Remnant Tenno
by Pungent
Summary: The Tenno was not inside the transference pod on the Moon. Instead, they awaken lightyears away on an unknown world. Stripped of their weapons and Warframes, wearing nothing but a jumpsuit and suffering from acute muscle atrophy, a wayward Tenno must now survive on Remnant and make peace with the native sentient life. *Contains Spoilers for The Second Dream* Dedicated to Monty Oum.
1. Chapter 1: Awakening

The lone Excalibur Warframe descended the Moonstone stairway cautiously, gazing around the circular antechamber for any potential threats. In the center of the room, there appeared to be a pool with rough crystallized tubes snaking from it, attaching to the walls of the chamber.

The Lotus lead them here to save the Tenno from the Stalker and Hunhow's Sentient fighters. Fortunately, the chamber appeared to be in good repair and undamaged, indicating that the Warframe was the first to arrive.

Inside the pool, a spinning, metallic, flower-like structure began to rise from the fog. Shining metal petals unfurled as it rotated, giving the illusion of a blooming lotus. These petals gradually revealed a single pod at the center of the formation, much like the one the Excalibur Warframe awoke inside of so long ago. The petals parted in front of the Warframe, allowing the pod to descend to the edge of the pool.

A hiss echoed in the Transference Chamber, and the pod's cover gradually lifted up and away, revealing its contents to the open air.

The Excalibur Warframe shuddered and collapsed as its connection to the Operator was severed.

There was nothing inside the Transference Pod.

* * *

With a brief and sharp gasp, I awoke to darkness. Gone were the golden structures and smoothed white stone of the Orokin Moon. In their place, a musky, dank, and humid odor assaulted my sense of smell, much like the muddy caves of Earth. I turned my head, finding the task incredibly strenuous. The structure I was sitting on looked like a crystalline throne of sorts, softly glowing white. My hands lightly gripped the jagged arms of the seat as if it were an actual throne. By the stars, this was uncomfortable.

Lifting my arms was just as straining as turning my head, but I forced them to obey and cradle my pounding skull. Who knew cutting the Somatic Link would cause a migraine? Thankfully, the place I was in was completely silent.

Wait… "Lotus?" I croaked out, attempting to use vocal chords that have gone unused for who knows how long. There was no response from my motherly guide. "Lotus!" I called again, wishing for confirmation that I wasn't alone.

Warriors are trained and disciplined in the art of war, never letting fear and panic dictate their actions. What I did next was foolish in hindsight.

With a rush of energy, I pushed myself off of the crystal throne, where my legs immediately gave out upon taking my weight. I collapsed to the wet stone floor face first with a startled yell, cursing the stars for leaving me in this state.

Weak, alone, vulnerable, and lost. Anything could find me and finish me off. Dragging my limbs along the moist ground took so much energy, but I had to move somewhere. This cave was not going to be my tomb.

Now that I was away from the glowing crystal throne, the light it shone illuminated the cave I was in slightly more clearly. The throne itself sat in about the center of the cave, three walls bordered it about ten feet away each, the front of the throne faced nothing but darkness.

With a grunt, I side-rolled myself toward one of the walls, impacting it lightly. I then used the pocked stone wall to haul myself into a sitting position, further straining my already tired arms. I took deep breathes of muggy and stale air, silently thanking the stars this place wasn't toxic.

Now that I could see myself somewhat clearly, my skin-tight Tenno suit was already caked with mud and dripping with stagnant water, which smelled terrible. My loose darkly colored hair fell in my eyes as I inspected myself, unable to discern its actual color in the dim light. The Tenno suit was primarily red, with what I believed to be accents of black and tints of white. An odd color combination, but it looked quite sleek to me.

I learned a lot about myself in the hours I spent in that cave. Tenno never need to sleep, drink, or eat. Their innate power that is often seen channeled into the greatly feared Warframes will also sustain their biological needs. That explained why I was _supposedly_ inside of a pod basically unconscious. The less energy spent keeping the Tenno alive, the more that can be siphoned to the Warframe.

Which also explained the acute muscle atrophy I struggled so much with.

After what could have been days of stretching and exercising, I could finally stand on my own two feet again. I never received a single response from Lotus or Ordis, and that fact terrified me, but staying inside this cave with a crystalline throne wasn't going to help either.

With a dire need to see the stars again, I traced my hand along the furthest wall, searching for the opening I discovered hours before. Finding a sharp turn in the wall, I stepped past the threshold and into a pathway. The tunnel turned abruptly, and the glowing crystalline throne was gone from my sight.

One hand traced the left wall and the other traced the right wall as I progressed through the narrow tunnel. My hands never fell from the walls, telling me that this tunnel had no branching paths to get lost in. Only once or twice did I smack my head into a slab of stone when the tunnel made an abrupt turn. I could not see anything, and was moving purely on touch.

Only when my legs were ready to give out did I finally see the first glimmer of light, that wasn't from the crystal throne. It was pale and small, but a wave of fresh air confirmed its origin. The walls I was touching gradually fell away as I entered an area smaller than the crystal throne room but wider than the tunnel. Cool, crisp, clean air beckoned me to find the light source. Opposite the opening I entered the room through was a protruding wall, like a boulder fell in front of a cave entrance. The pale light shone through a crack where the boulder failed to sit flush with the cave's mouth.

My first choice was to sit next to the tunnel exit and regain my strength. I relished the chance to take deep, satisfying breathes of clear air before I finally realized that I was not going to be able to move this boulder with my bare hands. Panic began to set in as fear of never being found invaded my thoughts. I quickly stood up and stumbled to the boulder, "Hey! Help! Lotus! Ordis! Anyone!" left my throat before I could stop it. I didn't care who or what found me at that moment, just anything was better than being trapped in a cave for who knows how long.

I beat my weak fist on the boulder repeatedly, hoping that someone would hear me. Frustrated, I switched from overhand swings to a direct punch, wishing the boulder to shatter into billions of dust fragments.

 _ **BT-DEEEEEWWWW**_

A sudden burst of energy erupted from my fist, launching the obstruction far, far away from me. I fell backwards in surprise, not expecting to actually launch a two-ton boulder. Moonlight flooded the cave entrance now that the mouth was open to the air. A stony crash echoed from below, sealing the fate of the boulder.

I crawled to the cave entrance, not believing what I had just accomplished. The cave seemed to be located on a mountainside, providing a breathtaking vista of a lush green forest before me. On the horizon, a tall tower pulsing with green light stood out beneath a large shattered moon.

I had to look back at the celestial object a second time. A shattered moon? That made no sense. With that orbit and level of destruction, it should have disintegrated and fallen to the planet long ago, considering its core was not visibly glowing from a fresh impact. It was so much different than Earth's moon, which ended up as an abomination of Orokin design, much like anything that ends up in the Void.

I shook my head as I stood up. That tower was a building. Buildings meant civilization. Civilization meant answers. I made the Beacon in the night my goal, and I carefully climbed down the mountainside and into the forest.


	2. Chapter 2: Confrontation

Moving down the mountainside proved to be much more challenging than I originally thought; muscle atrophy has a habit of making everything harder. I had to take frequent breaks to calm my spasming limbs and regain my stamina. Oddly enough, my Tenno suit weathered the elements remarkably well, despite all of the climbing and rolling I put it through.

At least I could see the stars.

By the time I reached level ground, the first rays of dawn appeared on the horizon. The lush green forest stretched out before me, still dark in the early morning light. Taking this small victory for what it's worth, I sat down below a tree to rest my aching legs.

Gradually, the sun climbed over the horizon, obscuring the stars with its arrival. More light slowly filtered through the canopy, illuminating the forest floor. It was with this peace and tranquility that I took stock of my current situation. Obviously, I was not on Earth, nor was I in the Origin System. No planets like this existed there, especially with such a strange satellite orbiting it. If this was true, then I must be light years away from the Origin System, and Transference can be sustained over that same distance without any latency.

If I could be this far away from my Warframe and control it without delay, I could possibly be entire _galaxies_ away from home. Who am I to determine how far Transference reaches?

With the sun high enough to force away the shadows of the forest, I stood up and began walking towards the distant tower once more.

* * *

The Stalker entered the Transference chamber in a swirl of smoke and shadow, War ready to rend flesh and spill Tenno blood. His attention was drawn to the idle Excalibur Warframe slumped lifelessly on the polished floor, then to the open and clearly vacant Transference pod. He relaxed his stance slightly after confirming the absence of threats, then moved to stand over the pod that should have house a very weak and very vulnerable Tenno.

 _Your target is gone._ Hunhow's voice echoed in the Stalker's mind. _Perhaps someone else found our quarry first and took them hostage? No… They would not leave the Warframe behind, too valuable a trophy. The housing pod itself looks clean, wholly untainted by Tenno occupation. There is no indentation in the fabric where their body would rest._ A black hand moved over the cushion inside the Transference pod. It was crisp and fresh, ready to conform to the occupant's body.

 _We have been tricked._ Hunhow hissed, its anger pulsing through the War greatsword it inhabited. The Stalker shared the same sentiment, opting to slam a fist into the pod with enough force to dislodge it from its mount, severing the connection to the white crystalline tubes, sparking and audibly loosing power. His anger was not sated. The Stalker turned away from the pod and drew back War, ready to run it through the lifeless Excalibur Warframe.

Unfortunately, that too had vanished.

* * *

With the sun steadily rising, I could get a much better bearing on my surroundings. The forest itself remained relatively flat, and I could easily see anything 100 meters out in all directions before being obstructed by too many trees. I moved toward the tower, keeping it in sight at all times. It was a goal, a concrete destination I could easily recognize. Of course, my actual goal was to find civilization and go from there. Afterwards all depended on how the native intelligent lifeforms tolerated my presence.

I heard the sound of distant running water after I sat down to rest under a tree. Life needed water, so civilization shouldn't be far. After recovering my stamina, I made my way toward the noise while keeping the tower in my peripheral vision. The water sounded gentle and small, most likely originating from a stream or brook.

Rounding a large mossy boulder, the stream itself finally came into view, dropping the air temperature by a few degrees. It wasn't particularly wide or deep, easily crossable by foot. The water was clear and clean, and the occasional aquatic animal could be seen swimming against the current. The whole scene was serene and peaceful.

I sat down at the water's edge to regain my limited stamina. Now that I had a clean water source, I contemplated cleaning myself of all the dirt, mud, twigs, and stagnant cave water I had accumulated. Showing up at someone's door, if the natives here even used doors, like this would not give the greatest first impression. I dipped my hand in the water…

… and immediately withdrew it. Too cold. Far too cold. It was not worth risking hypothermia just to get myself clean. I felt disappointed at not being able rid myself of filth, and mildly anxious at what kind of first impression I would leave behind.

The bushes rustled behind me. I subconsciously dismissed it as some kind of small animal, until I heard and felt heavy thumping. Footsteps. Belonging to something big.

I stood and turned around as quickly as I could, just in time to see a large black mass swing at me from the side. I fell backward to avoid the attack, splashing into the freezing water. Something above me gutturally roared, which was obscured by wet hair clinging to my face. I pushed myself back along the stream, already straining my arm muscles. The black mass landed in the brook with a very loud splash, advancing toward me faster than I could scramble away.

It raised what I could only assume to be a claw over its head with the intention of cutting me in two. As a last ditched attempt to defend myself, I raised one hand over my head and the other toward the black mass.

 _ **B-WHHOOOOOOOOOHHH**_

I could feel something erupt from my extended hand, halting the unidentified creature. The distinct noise of shredding flesh filled my ears. Streaks of red appeared on the creature as I moved my hand. It thrashed against the onslaught of raw energy, losing appendages as it desperately tried to block the beam of Tenno power flowing from my hand. The beam found its head, which promptly swelled and exploded spectacularly on contact, showering myself and the creek with bits of black flesh. The creature's body crashed to the ground, drenching me in extremely cold water.

Aside from the flowing creek, there was nothing but silence. I pulled my hair away from my eyes, finally noticing it was black with red highlights. Standing up slowly and already shaking from the cold bath, I made my way over to the black creature. It was very large, had white bone plates and spikes coving its hide, and was rapidly disintegrating as I studied it.

I was no stranger to hostile wildlife, but this thing was something else. None of the snaking gouges the energy beam created spewed any blood, nor did they reveal any entrails. Just bright red flesh. Every inch of this monster was dedicated to killing and only killing. No camouflaging colors, no specialized appendages, nothing that would help it survive in the wild. Its very existence spat in the face of mother nature, but here it was.

Priorities, Tenno. Get yourself dry. Don't succumb to hypothermia.

I climbed out of the creek shaking uncontrollably. With nothing immediately nearby to soak up the water, I would need to take a risk and make a fire. I didn't know if that monster was alone or not, but I at least knew I could fight back if I had to.

After walking a few dozen feet away from the stream, I looked around the forest floor for anything usable to make a fire. Twigs and dried leaves would get me started, and gathering them was going to be tedious.

Plus, it would be nice if I didn't set the forest on fire.

Still shivering violently, I gathered the leaves and twigs into a pile, clearing away anything burnable around it. Concentrating my Tenno power into my hand, I aimed at the tinder pile and released.

Twigs, leaves, and dirt flew in every direction, none of it managing to ignite. Some of it even landed on my still-wet Tenno suit, rendering the dip into freezing water utterly pointless.

I became incredibly frustrated at my mistake and kicked the remaining tinder pile, scattering dirty twigs and leaves. I stalked off into the forest, making sure I was still advancing toward the distant tower. At this point, I no longer cared about hypothermia, simply hoping that moving around will dry off the icy water fast enough.

It was just before mid-day when I heard something familiar echo through the forest, a sound I knew all too well.

Gunfire.

I rapidly turned my head to determine its direction and concluded it was coming from around the tower. I picked up my pace in anticipation.

More gunfire, much closer and in a different direction. From the reverberating crack I felt in my chest, it came from a shotgun like weapon, but its rhythm didn't match one. Sometimes I heard one shot, followed by multiple, then many in rapid succession, and finally a double barrel blast. What kind of weapon sounds like a shotgun but hits like a martial artist?

I could hear yelling now, like a young woman fighting off and trash talking a slew of opponents.

Then one of those black monsters crashed through a tree, rolled to a stop, and started disintegrating,

Believing that discretion was the better part of valor, I approached the clearing the monster flew from, taking cover behind a standing tree, and what I saw next took my breath away.

A young woman stood her ground as two of those enormous black creatures charged at her. She uppercut one, stunning it long enough to annihilate the second one with a series of lightning fast punches, kicks, and… blasts from her gauntlets?

With the second creature dealt with, she turned to the first that had just recovered from receiving an uppercut.

"You want some!?" She yelled at the monster, eyes glowing red and body radiating flames. It roared to her challenge, but could do no more as the distinct noise of a blade carving through flesh echoed through the clearing. The monster dropped forward, dead, a black weapon of some sort embedded behind its skull. Another figure approached the clearing, tearing out the embedded blade of her weapon. The two women made eye contact, then the newcomer said something I couldn't hear, sending the first woman on edge.

My instincts were telling me to leave, as these individuals were clearly leagues above what I was physically capable of doing. I turned to leave, trying to make as little noise as possible while still shivering uncontrollably.

Then I was staring down the barrel of a bladed handgun. "Don't move."


	3. Chapter 3: Rescue

I raised my hands up in surrender, albeit shakily. My teeth clattered together as I shivered.

The woman, dressed in black and white with bright amber eyes, looked me over once, then lowered her weapon. She tilted her head to the side slightly as if I looked familiar.

"Who are you, and why do you look like my partner's sister?"

A name! How could I have forgotten!? Everyone has a name, but I couldn't remember mine. Lotus always called me-

"T-Tenno. M-My name i-is Tenno." I stammered through shivering breaths. That was my alias now. Better get used to it.

"Hey Blake! Who was watching us?" The other woman's voice called from behind me. I heard her footsteps, then she gasped. "Ruby? What happened to your-" She halted her questions when she grabbed my shaking arm and spun me around violently. Her hand was incredibly warm, almost hot.

Shining yellow hair was the first thing I noticed about her. The next was this wave of heat she seemed to, no, definitely radiated from her body. That must be why she showed so much skin, to bleed off excess heat. I welcomed it, seeing as I was slowly descending through hypothermia.

My shaking limbs and chattering teeth must have given her the impression that I was scared of her, which wasn't entirely false. Better for them to pity me than to see me as a threat. Did I mention that these women were much taller than me? I barely reached five feet in height, if even that. The shortest of the two had at least eight more inches on me.

"Whoa, girl, we're not going to hurt you." The blond woman backed up slightly, "My name is Yang. Yang Xiao Long. What's yours?"

I grew angry at her obnoxiously sweet voice, and before I could reign in my emotions, I yelled "I'm not a child!"

Yang's light purple eyes widened and blinked at my outburst, but she regained her composure quickly. "Okay, I'm sorry. You just remind me of my little sister. That's all. So, did you find a partner yet?"

"Her name is Tenno, Yang." The woman behind me, Blake, said, "And I don't think I saw her at Beacon last night. She might not be part of Initiation."

"Look!" I interrupted them, "S-stop! C-can't you s-see I'm f-f-freezing to d-death r-right now!?"

It took Yang a moment to process what I just said, but in response, she moved to my side and wrapped her arm around my shoulders before I could react. I was about to push her away, but I stopped once her insane amount of body heat washed away the cold. "Don't you worry, kid. I'm a walking, talking, butt-kicking space heater. You'll get warmed up in no time!"

"I told you! I'm not a child!" I retorted.

"I don't think that is going to stop her." Blake responded as she walked to my open side. Her steps were nearly silent. It was then that I noticed a rather large bow sitting atop her head. "Come on. The temple is this way."

At least these individuals were friendly, but what unnerved me was Yang's display of power against those black monsters. Her prowess looked disturbingly similar to the capabilities of a Warframe. I looked at the gauntlet adorning her arm, taking note of what looked like exhaust ports and an ammunition belt.

I would be lying if I didn't feel a twinge of jealousy. Shotgun gauntlets would be incredibly fun to use, but the closest analogue I've ever used was the Staticore secondary. I couldn't punch anything with those things, making them somewhat disappointing in the end but still useful.

With Yang invading my personal space and Blake leading the way, we walked through the forest toward their destination.

* * *

Corpus plasma and Grineer bullets lanced through the halls of the Orokin Moon, joined occasionally by the energy blasts of Sentient fighters. The three factions battled each other into a stalemate, reinforcements replacing lost troops in a vicious cycle of death. Amidst this chaos, a visual distortion weaved in and out of the troops, drawing as little attention to itself as possible.

"Cloaking module down to twenty-eight percent capacity." Ordis' hushed voice informed the shimmering figure. "Extraction point is two hundred meters away from your current location." A brief pause. "You must move more quickly – GOTTA GO FAST – else you risk exposure. That cloaking module was never intended to be used long term, let alone for two."

Heeding the Cephalon's warning, the shimmering figure moved through a large doorway that was currently funneling more Corpus robotics into the hallway. The extraction waypoint appeared on their heads up display as the figure obtained line of sight. Carefully moving along the walls as to not be spotted, the shimmer hauled its charge toward the extraction point, placing one foot in front of the other.

"Fifty meters to extraction. Eight percent remaining on the cloaking module. – STAY ON TARGET – You're almost there. I'm bringing the Liset around-" A puff of dark smoke consumed the shimmering figure, "Alert! Cloaking module offline at four percent! You've been spotted!"

The Stalker charged through the Corpus robotics and Elite Crewmen, coating War with blood and lubricant. Its hateful gaze landed on the smoke cloud, watching for movement.

A bright purple flash erupted from the smoke, launching a ball of plasma toward the Stalker. He easily deflected the attack with War, sending it careening into one of the many cliff faces on the Moon. The Stalker flicked away some residual energy and charged toward the revealed figure, rapidly closing distance.

"Natah, your compassion for this Tenno is confusing." Hunhow mocked through War, "They leave you nothing but messes you dutifully clean up. Why?" The Stalker lunged at the Lotus, who was carrying the Excalibur Warframe on her back, "Children should clean their own filth, or have you grown sympathetic?" Lotus dodged back, but did not anticipate a wave of energy from War. The attack impacted her, launching herself and the Warframe back several meters further. "Your creations are mistakes, failures. Like all failures, they must be corrected." The Stalker advanced on the prone Lotus, raising War into a fatal slash.

A transmission hologram appeared between the two, "NOBODY HARMS THE LOTUS AND LIVES!"

With engines running at full output with afterburner, the Liset appeared below the extraction platform and looped above it, casting a shadow over the three individuals. In a maneuver that surprised and dumbfounded everyone involved, the Liset performed a very fast flip, sending the large antennae dangerously close to the ground, but close enough to make contact with the Stalker.

While the maneuver failed to kill the Stalker outright, it did launch him and Hunhow along the broken lunar surface at hundreds of meters per second.

"TAKE THAT YOU LITTLE COCKROACH!" Ordis yelled into Lotus' transmission link. "Lotus! Are you unharmed!? Please respond!"

"I am… I am unharmed, Ordis. Thank you for your... concern." Lotus responded, mostly out of reflex. She slowly stood up and made her way to the Excalibur Warframe. With her charge secured, the Lotus began to wonder what happened to her Tenno, and where they may be.


	4. Chapter 4: Rest

I stopped shivering five minutes into meeting Yang and Blake, and was completely dry by ten. After fifteen minutes, I could barely stand from the strain on my legs. The two huntresses-in-training, as they called themselves, were wholly oblivious to my struggles. I unwrapped myself from Yang's arm and stopped walking.

"I need to rest," I breathed out, moving to sit under a tree. My legs instantly started to feel better and I sighed in relief.

"Uh, sure. I suppose we can take a break," Yang acquiesced hesitantly. She seemed suspect that something was not quite right with me, like I'm much weaker than she originally thought. Her gaze moved to Blake. "I'll keep watch if you keep our new friend company. Sound good?" A quick nod. "Great! We'll move out in, say, ten minutes? I wanna see what this relic is." Yang then walked out of earshot, leaning against a tree casually.

Blake sat down next to me and started reading a book she pulled out from… somewhere. Of all the places to read a book, it had to be in the middle of a monster infested forest. This woman was either foolish or incredibly confident in her abilities. Both of them were. It didn't calm my nerves knowing that my allies were not taking this situation seriously.

Even so, I was still very curious about these two individuals. "Hey, Blake." I said first to get her attention. "What are you reading about?"

She looked at me for a moment as if contemplating what to say. "It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."

I've never heard of a story like that. "That sounds interesting. How could anyone manage to live with-"

 _ **USELESS HOLLOW SHELLS**_

"Tenno? Are you still cold? You started shaking for a moment." Blake's concerned and quiet voice snapped me back to reality. "Do you need to warm up?"

"No, no! I'm fine! Really." I replied hastily, hoping my lapse into memories I would rather leave buried wasn't noticed. "I'm not cold anymore."

Her bow twitched slightly. "If you insist." She replied, going back to reading. "To answer your question, it would all depend on the who the souls are, what each one stands to lose, and which one believes was there first, if applicable."

This girl seemed quite adamant about her interests, considering she could easily extrapolate possible plot points from an overarching theme or concept within a story. With that in mind, I pushed my curiosity a little further. "That makes sense. In what way does all of that fit into your story?"

Blake lowered her book and looked back to me, seemingly surprised at my question. "Well, I'm not finished reading through it yet, but the man inadvertently creates the second soul through a botched science experiment, and it constantly begs for release." She paused, closing the book. "Look, I can lend it to you once I'm finished, or we can look for another copy in Beacon's library. I would rather not spoil it. Besides, I think Yang is ready to move out."

Sure enough, Yang's obnoxiously blond hair could be seen swishing as she sauntered toward us. Had ten minutes passed that quickly? "Alright, up and at 'em girls! Initiation isn't gonna complete itself!"

I rolled my eyes and adjusted my limbs to make standing as easy as possible. Before I could make the maneuver, a hand and a black ribbon appeared in front of my face. I followed the appendage up and saw Blake standing over me with a hand outstretched and small smirk on her lips. Taking the cue, I grabbed her arm and she hauled me onto my shaky feet. I offered a nod in thanks and began following Yang through the trees.

Blake matched my rather slow pace, wanting to hang back out of earshot of Yang. "I'm not blind," She said quietly, "There's something important you're not telling us."

"So what if I am?" I retorted hotly, then sighed. "Fine. You have questions and so do I, but they can wait until after this 'Initiation' of your ends."

A distant roar caught our attention. Yang picked up her pace and waved us forward.

"I'll hold you to that." Blake agreed, moving to catch up to her partner.

* * *

Lotus carried a limp Excalibur Warframe down the Liset's ramp and into the Orbiter. The Tenno's Foundry module sparked and hissed as it tirelessly worked on components begun by an absent owner. The Arsenal module blinked awake as the Lotus approached it, ready to accept the inactive Warframe.

"Lotus?" Ordis' voice reverberated throughout the Tenno's home base. "I am… deeply sorry for what happened to the Operator. I will take full responsibility for their disappearance and-"

"Ordis." Lotus commanded, releasing the Warframe as the Arsenal took it into storage. "You are not at fault for what happened. The Tenno was never inside the Transference pod to begin with."

"O-oh? Then – SILLY ORDIS – what do you suppose we do to get them back home, assuming they are still alive?"

Lotus turned around and walked back up the Liset's ramp, then kneeled before the Navigation panel.

"For now, we wait." Was her only reply.


	5. Chapter 5: Meetings

The three of us broke through the trees and entered a long clearing. To our right was a stone ruined temple with pedestals arranged in a semi-circular pattern. To our left was a distant cliff face and what looked like stone towers just beneath it.

"Do you think this is it?" Yang asked Blake, who responded with an unamused look.

I opted to lean heavily against a tree and look out over the clearing. My legs were in almost numb from over-exertion. "You two go on ahead. I'll catch up in a little bit. Just need a moment to rest."

Yang looked at me, puzzled. "We just took a break five minutes ago. Why would you need another so soon?"

"Yang," Blake interrupted before I could retort. "She will be fine. Ask your questions after we get this done."

She eventually acquiesced, and the two of them went down to the stone temple where their relics were supposedly located. I had a great view over the clearing where I could watch the remainder of 'Initiation' take place.

Six more people eventually found their way to the temple, all in their own way. Half of them fell from the sky, somehow. Two rode in on one of those black monsters. The last one rushed into the clearing with an enormous scorpion chasing them.

It was at this moment, watching colorful teenagers fight against gigantic monsters, where I started to really wonder where the heck I ended up. Unfortunately, the monsters weren't the only thing about this place that concerned me. The people here were using abilities very much akin to a Warframe. One of them created a wall of ice similar to Frost, another created clones like Ash, and Yang could hurl fire blasts like Ember.

Who _were_ these people?

After at least ten minutes of fighting a gigantic scorpion and equally oversized feathered bird, ending in victory for the teenagers, a twin engine aircraft appeared over the cliff face. This was when I made my move. I stood up from my spot beneath the tree and started a light jog to the strange aircraft landing in the clearing. This was my only chance to get some answers.

"Hey, Tenno!" Yang called to me over the roar of the engines, "We were just talking about you!"

Blake was already inside the aircraft's passenger compartment and extended a hand toward me. I grabbed it and she pulled me inside. I claimed the seat next to her, glad to be sitting down again. The aircraft took off after I strapped myself in.

One of the passengers leaned over and extended a hand to me, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tenno! My name is Pyrrha Nikos!" I shook it and nodded.

The boy sitting next to her also leaned over to offer his hand, "Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it." I doubted that claim, but I shook his hand and nodded anyway.

"I'm Nora! The quiet one over there is Ren! We found each other by imitating sloth noises!" The girl called 'Nora' said first, then hastily extended a hand my way as if remembering its something she should be doing. I hesitantly shook the limb in greeting. I nodded toward the only other male in the aircraft, whom I assumed to be Ren.

"Weiss Schnee," The last girl greeted, not offering a hand. She looked exhausted, so I could excuse the lack of formalities. "That oaf was right; you do look like my partner. Thankfully, I can tell you're much more mature than her. I believe we'll get along swimmingly."

"My sister is at the top of the cliff. We'll stop there before we get to Beacon." Yang pointed out the window as we circled around a a red and black figure with a long trailing cloak. "Did you see that thing my little sis did to that Nevermore? It was so awesome!"

"Hey! I was the one to launch her in the first place, _and_ I made those glyphs to propel her up the cliff!" Weiss retorted before I could respond. The aircraft landed roughly on the open ground, side doors opening to let the new passenger inside.

"Hey everyone!" The newcomer chirped, looking over everyone in the cabin as she claimed the last seat next to Weiss. Her gaze stopped on me. "Wow. Yang was right. You do look like me a little bit."

"I keep getting told that." I responded over the aircraft taking off again. "Anyway, it's nice to meet all of you. My name is Tenno, and I have a lot of questions to ask. Preferably to someone with authority."

* * *

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white Rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Juniper." Headmaster Ozpin formally announced the teams and their leaders in a rather hasty, but nonetheless proud moment for all involved. "Lead by Jaune Arc."

For some, it was downright baffling. Just by looking at that boy I could tell he didn't belong here, let alone be made leader of his own team, JNPR.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white Knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Ruby."

That wouldn't get confusing. Team RWBY on paper, Team Ruby out loud.

"Lead by Ruby Rose."

Wow. Did this Ozpin guy even know what he was doing? Blake or even Weiss would have been a better choice for the leadership role, not an immature girl two years everyone's junior. I didn't voice my dissent from my place at the back of the auditorium. I didn't want any more attention brought my way.

After a few parting words, the crowd of faceless students dispersed, undoubtedly turning in for the night. I stayed in my seat, watching Ozpin make his way toward me.

"Miss Tenno, is it?" He greeted, then leaned in close to my face. "You… have silver eyes."

The observation caught me off guard, but not enough to let it show. Ozpin quickly changed topic at my lack of response.

"Normally, we end our Initiation with less potential students after its conclusion. This would be the first year the opposite has happened."

"I'm not looking to become a student; I'm not a child." I corrected the Headmaster. "I'm looking for answers."

"Aren't we all?"

"With all due respect, don't be vague with me. I need to know where I am and how I ended up here, as it is very important I get back home as fast as possible." I watched Ozpin's expression and waited for a response.

"We call this planet Remnant, Miss Tenno. As for where it is, I cannot tell you. Not many of our people dedicate their lives to astronomy." He took a sip from his mug as if the presence of an extraterrestrial alien didn't bother him in the slightest. "I would recommend you visit the academy's infirmary. We can provide a place for you to rest and offer physical therapy to reverse the muscle atrophy you are very clearly afflicted by."

Observant. Calm. Caring… It would be foolish to pass up on his offer. Besides, this was a school, right? There might be a thing or two I could learn here. I would need to swallow my pride and accept his help. At least for now.

"Fine. I'll go. But we are going to have a long talk in the morning." I stood from my seat. "Seeing as this is your school, would you mind showing me where the infirmary is located?"

Ozpin nodded and turned toward the closest auditorium exit, "Follow me. I'll lead you there."

I did as he asked, and we were soon walking through Beacon's hallways and courtyards. Many students and faculty were still outside their dorm rooms talking about trivial things. A few of them glanced my way, but very quickly refocused on their friends once they recognized my company. What captured my attention, however, were the plainly non-human traits some of the students and faculty displayed. Traits from old-Earth animals. A rabbit's ears, a wolf's fangs, a boar's tusks, all growing out of people as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Theses animal traits were utterly bizarre and had no biological purpose to being there.

"They are called Faunus, Miss Tenno," Ozpin said as if he was reading my thoughts, "And they have just as much a reason to be here as anyone else. Beacon Academy does not discriminate against one's race or ethnic background. All are welcome to attend. Even you." He stopped at an elevator door and pressed the call button.

"I'm not interested in becoming a student, Ozpin." I reaffirmed, leaning against the wall next to the elevator. My legs were already starting to hurt. "While it's nice to know you're not racist, that doesn't matter to me. What I want to know is why you want to help me and how you know I'm not from your world?"

The elevator arrived at our floor with a beep, depositing two students talking about their teammates. We entered the cabin and Ozpin waved a device in front of a scanner. He pressed a button on a holographic display and the elevator began moving.

"I am helping you merely because I want to." Ozpin responded. "You are in an academy that has students who want to do nothing more than to help others. At least, that is my hope. We make very powerful individuals, Miss Tenno. I believe you have what it takes to become the greatest huntress Remnant, or your world, has ever seen."

"Speaking of which. How do you know I'm not from Remnant?" I asked, mildly impatient.

Ozpin merely smirked and responded with, "An emaciated human appears in the forest, wearing a skin-tight jumpsuit, kills a creature of Grimm with nothing more than a wave of her hand, without any Aura, and you're surprised I can see she doesn't belong here?"

"You saw that? How did you-"

"I have hidden cameras throughout the Emerald Forest to monitor Initiation. You happened to appear at just the right time."

The elevator stopped with a _bing_ , opening the door to another hallway. Ozpin strutted out and I followed as quickly as my aching legs would allow. The headmaster stopped before a set of double doors with the word 'Infirmary' blown up and stretched to fit on both doors. He pushed them open with a flourish and I quickly entered behind him before they closed. Those doors seemed… heavy.

"Headmaster Ozpin!" The woman behind the front desk seemed surprised by his entrance. "What can I do for you this evening?"

"Glynda, this is Miss Tenno. Miss Tenno, this is Glynda Goodwitch, headmistress and acting head-nurse at Beacon Academy." Ozpin introduced us. Glynda looked at me once before recognition dawned on her expression.

"Ah, Miss Tenno. A pleasure to meet you." The headmistress greeted me with words that seemed overused. "She is the one from Initiation, correct?"

Ozpin nodded. "She will be staying at Beacon Academy as a guest until further notice. I will assign her a visitor's room tomorrow morning, so Miss Tenno is to stay here for tonight."

Glynda nodded and stood up – by the stars why does everyone have to be so tall – and waved me deeper into the infirmary. "Thank you, Ozpin. I'll handle everything else from here."

The headmaster nodded and left the infirmary. He was very obviously hiding something, but it was no use pondering over it.

I followed the acting head-nurse through a few doors and into the patient's hallway. "Hey, Glynda. Ozpin mentioned something about 'Aura' and not having one myself. What does he mean by that?"

We entered an empty room and she flicked on the lights. "Firstly, you are to refer to me as Miss Goodwitch. Second, how could you not know what Aura is?"

I wasn't fond of her attitude towards me, and I retorted hotly, "I'm not a child! Do not even think to treat me like one! And didn't Headmaster Ozpin tell you I had no 'Aura' to begin with? Didn't he tell you I'm not from-" I stopped myself before potentially confidential information found its way out of my mouth.

To her credit, Glynda stood and watched me silently through my small rant. It made me feel even more like a child.

"Headmaster Ozpin has informed me of your physical condition. We can start physical therapy tomorrow after a full night's rest." She promptly left the patient's bedroom without another word, softly closing the door.

I didn't have time to tell her I was incapable of sleeping. With an exasperated sigh, I sat on the floor, crossed my legs, and closed my eyes. At least meditation can help pass the time.


	6. Chapter 6: Potential

By the stars above, physical therapy _hurts_. It didn't help that Goodwitch was in charge of the sessions. She must have held a grudge against me for my snappy retort the previous night. Regardless, physical therapy left me exhausted and unwilling to move from my position on Beacon's fitness room floor. Goodwitch's harsh regiment of jogging, stretching, and various exercises followed by a less-than-short break before repeating it all over again for hours made me feel resentful for agreeing to stay at Beacon.

When Goodwitch finally called the day's session over, the clock had just struck noon. I barely registered her announcing I was free to explore the campus if I didn't interrupt any classes and subsequent departure from the room before a new but familiar figure leaned over me, blocking the floodlight on the ceiling with her disastrous mass of blond hair.

"What's up Tenno? Goodwitch too good for ya?" Yang teased, reaching down with a hand expecting me to take it. She was wearing a school uniform.

I responded with a slow blink and low groan. I did not want to deal with her right now.

She didn't retract her hand when I refused to take it. Instead, Yang kneeled down, grabbed my limp arm and forcefully pulled my unresponsive and sore body up into a sitting position.

I breathed out a meager 'Ow' from the jolt of pain, but Yang either didn't hear me or didn't care. She was keeping me steady so I wouldn't lean to the side and fall back down on the floor.

"Wow. You're squishier than a plush doll. What did that woman did to you?" Yang seemed to be looking me over, but I couldn't tell from my hunched over position; my neck wasn't sore, but I had no energy to move it. "I guess you want to go back to your room and rest. Do you happen to know where that is? I'm still a bit new here."

"No," My replies were clipped and weak, "Here from Infirmary. Ozpin set up room. He knows."

"Hello, again!" A new voice made itself known from across the fitness room. "Yang Xiao Long? What happened to Tenno? Does she need medical aid?" The newcomer's footsteps rapidly approached my spot on the floor.

"Nah, Pyrrha. Goodwitch put her through a wringer. Nothing a two day nap won't solve." Yang replied. "Hey, I'm gonna go find Ozpin, see if I can get your room number. I think I passed him on the way here. Pyrrha, can you keep an eye on her for a minute?"

"That I can do. Go get the headmaster. Nothing will happen to her." Pyrrha knelt down next to me as Yang stood up to leave. Without Yang holding me steady, my still unresponsive torso leaned to the side and my shoulder landed on Pyrrha's thigh. She froze at the intimate contact, probably unsure of how to react.

"Can't move." I mumbled, as if that explained everything. "Physical therapy. Numb all over." My body was very tentatively moved into an upright position. Pyrrha had very gentle if mildly calloused hands. A warrior and a caregiver.

"I have been in your position before." She said. "PT is not a very fun procedure to endure, but it is necessary. There are some things that Aura cannot heal on its own."

There was that word again. "Aura? What is that?" I asked, hoping for a more concrete answer beyond 'You don't have it.'

"You don't know what Aura is? First Jaune and now you, too." She seemed somewhat exasperated at that revelation, but continued with her explanation. "Aura is the light of our souls. It shields and protects us from harm, while providing the individual with enhanced physical capabilities. I should have guessed you did not have your Aura unlocked by your current exhausted state."

Aura. Sounds a lot like energy shields created by Warframes and Corpus troops, but organically produced. How that worked would have to wait. How someone 'unlocks' it…

"How does someone get their Aura unlocked?" I asked as innocently as possible.

"Usually, someone else will unlock it for you through their own Aura supply." Pyrrha paused as if choosing her next words carefully. "Do you… wish to have your Aura unlocked?"

 _Yes!_ But be tactful about it!

"If it'll help me start moving at all, then yes." I replied.

"Okay. I don't know how Aura will affect you, but if you're willing to go for it, I can't refuse." She placed a hand behind my neck. " _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee._ "

* * *

"Lotus! Lotus! Come quickly – RISE AND SHINE – you must see this!" Ordis' voice chirped through the Orbiter's intercom. "You won't believe it! It just showed up suddenly! I found – MY MARBLE COLLECTION – the Operator's transference signal and its source vector!"

The Lotus continued to look over the empty transference pod at the back of the Orbiter, seemingly unperturbed by the Cephalon's excitement. Faint pulses of lime green energy snaked through the device and into the crystal tubes connecting the pod to the Orbiter. They began the moment Ordis picked up the transference signal.

"Are you seeing this Lotus!? The trace on the source vector points to…" Ordis' enthusiasm died away. "No. No that can't be correct. I'm running the numbers – AT THE SPEED OF SOUND – approximately twelve million times per second and the chance of all of them being a mistake is effectively zero."

The Lotus calmly walked toward the navigation panel inside of the docked Liset, kneeling as the interface illuminated at her approach.

"This doesn't make any sense! The only possible explanation would be a trap, but emulating a transference signal is almost certainly impossible, let alone having it originate from a completely different star! The logistics of such a feat is both impossible and impractical! Lotus, what should we do? Is this the Operator's signal or is it a trap? I must have your input! My processors are overloading from – CALCULATING PI – running through possibility after possibility over and over again and now my transistors hurt! There's no way its originating from a star 201 light years away!"

The Lotus did not respond as she was pressing and swiping the navigation holograms. A final beep locked in her selections.

"Ordis, I need you to chart a course for this coordinate in the Outer Terminus sector. Get there by any means necessary as quickly as possible."

"Uh, right! Breaking lunar orbit, diverting power to engines, – PUNCH IT – engaging to specified coordinates." The Liset's cockpit rapidly changed its orientation, dancing sunlight all throughout the cabin. "I hope you know what to do, Lotus." The Cephalon muttered as the space craft accelerated to Pluto.

What they were unaware of was that the transference signal was visible to the entire Origin System, and a cluster of oddly shaped asteroids have begun to move.

* * *

I gasped and arched my back, wholly unprepared for the sensation of completely unknown energy exploding through all of my body. My eyes were wide open, but failed to see Beacon's fitness room. My ears were clear, but failed to hear the droning ventilation system or Pyrrha's shocked response. My legs were touching the floor, but failed to feel its spongy, rubbery texture. My nostrils flared with my gasp, but failed to smell the sterilized air or Pyrrha's flowery shampoo.

There was no description for what I experienced, so I can only say for certain what it was not. It did not hurt, but the departure of sensation was enough to frighten me, like a hallucination that held nothing recognizable. My different senses were overloaded with the same sensation. Sight, hearing, touch, and smell all returned the exact same thing, and for the briefest of moments, I believed I was dead.


	7. Chapter 7: Recovery

I was not dead. Obviously. My senses were shot, though. Having your sense of touch transmit the exact same thing as your sense of sight at the same time is a very… uncomfortable experience. Just as suddenly as the sensory overload began, it just as abruptly ceased. My whole world was numb, brain screaming for sensory input but nothing would answer. I would have felt dizzy if I could feel a sense of balance to tell me I was moving.

A tiny mote of sensation made itself known in the numb darkness. It was small but bright, and it was growing steadily. I clung to that sensation with all of my willpower, never giving it a chance to drift away. It changed as it grew, splitting up gradually and forcing away the numb darkness with each passing moment. As my senses returned, the motes of sensation melted away, and the real world slowly emerged from the unfeeling fog.

Something lifted up my eyelid and assaulted my newly rebooted retina with blinding light. I instinctively swatted away the offending device and covered my eyes from further probing.

"That was incredibly foolish of you, Miss Tenno." Glynda's voice pierced my suddenly sensitive hearing. "You're lucky Professor Ozpin and Miss Xiao Long got to you before your seizure could cause you, the school, or its students any harm."

"Great, thanks. I get it." I retorted with no small degree of sarcasm. "Now shut up for a few minutes before I get a mi-"

 _Oh no. Pins and needles! EVERYWHERE!_

I forced my body to go rigid. Every movement, every touch would send an electric jolt of white-hot pain radiating through my whole body. It felt like after getting blood circulating through your legs if you have been sitting for too long. The numbness of restricted blood flow gets replaced with a nasty stinging and tingling sensation. I felt that, but magnified to encompass my entire body.

"You were saying, Miss Tenno!?" Glynda snapped back at me, hand moving to grab my arm with no care for the-

 _OW!_

-excruciating pain it would undoubtedly cause. "I didn't quite catch your comment. Perhaps you would like to repeat it?"

Blazing hot tears rolled down my cheeks as I rode out the pain this woman was unknowingly inflicting on me. My eyes were clenched shut in a grimace. Any movement would set off another round of radiating pain. If I told her to let go, I would risk agonizing jolts from talking and Glynda releasing her grip, but no more pressure. If I did not tell her to let go, her grip on my arm would remain, but there would be no other pain sources.

I debated that decision far too long, as it was inevitably made for me.

"Professor Goodwitch." Headmaster Ozpin's calm and serene voice felt soothing compared to this woman's agitated tone. "Would you please unhand your patient? Can you not see you are causing her a great deal pain?"

Just as I was getting used to the pressure on my arm, its sudden release sent another round of stinging pain through my limb, into my torso, and back through the remaining three appendages. It hurt, but I somehow managed to stay still so as to not cause further agitation.

"My apologies, Ozpin. I let my emotions get the better of me." Glynda replied, moving away from my position. I dared to open my eyes. The room we were in looked like a basic bedroom with a desk, a nightstand, and two lamps. A single window above the bed I was occupying was letting in far too much sunlight, stinging my sensitive eyes.

"I accept your apology. Make sure it does not happen again." I could feel Ozpin's gaze fall on me. "I would like to have a word with Miss Tenno here. In private, if possible."

Glynda's soft footsteps over the room's carpeted floor gradually faded away, followed by a sharp closing door. Ozpin pulled over the chair beneath the desk and sat down at the right side of the bed.

As my eyes adjusted to the sunlight pouring in above me, the pins and needles gradually subsided, allowing me to move without issue. Lacking a reason to stay in the bed any further, I stood up on the side opposite Ozpin and turned to face him. At least I made a full recovery from the physical therapy.

"Aura is a very strange thing, isn't it, Miss Tenno." The headmaster stated more than asked, sipping from the mug he always seemed to have. "Even we are unsure of what it actually is, where it comes from, or even why we have it. Much like gravity, it has become a force of nature that is seldom understood but widely utilized." He continued to look at me much like how an instructor would a student, voice calm and serene. "Forgive me if I am overstepping a boundary, but I am curious as to your thoughts on Aura so far. Your reaction was… unique, according to Miss Nikos' report, but I wish to know what you experienced first hand."

With a deep breath, I crossed my arms and looked to the door leading to the hallway. "A better question would be what I _didn't_ experience." I responded curtly, inspecting my hand. "In case you haven't figured it out, Headmaster Ozpin, I don't need to sleep, eat, or drink. Why is something I will not tell you. The point is that unlocking my Aura knocked me out from sensory overload. Sending someone like me into unconsciousness is nearly impossible."

"Your experience was very intense, is what you are saying." Ozpin concluded. "Intense enough to send you into a seizure and become comatose for thirty-five minutes. An adverse reaction to unlocking ones Aura has never been reported, that is, until now."

A knocking on the door interrupted my response, followed by it opening and Glynda's head appearing. "Headmaster Ozpin, a student wishes to visit Miss Tenno. She claims it is urgent."

"Very well. Let her in." Ozpin immediately replied. I balked at him, annoyed that he dropped our conversation in favor of his students.

"Hello, again!" Pyrrha greeted as she entered the room. She was wearing a school uniform. "I am very glad to see you are unharmed, Tenno." She paused, glancing between Ozpin and myself. "Am I interrupting something important?"

"Yes, you are actu-"

"No, your visit is very much welcomed," Ozpin cut me off, leaving me seething. "Anything you have to say will always be important."

Pyrrha took that as a cue to continue, smiling sweetly in my direction, "As I was saying, I am glad to see you are unharmed and active again. I'm sorry if-"

It was my turn to start interrupting people. "Good! Thank you! Apology accepted! Whatever!" I yelled, taking a few steps toward the student. "Now if you don't mind, I have a few things I would like to say to Ozpin in private."

Pyrrha's eyes went wide and she took half a step backward at my outburst, her hand reaching for something on her back that was not there. She quickly glanced toward Ozpin before regaining her composure, nodding in my direction, then swiftly exiting the room.

The room fell into uncomfortable silence after the door slammed shut. I closed my eyes and took a few deep, calming breaths. I soon realized that my outburst was immature and unwarranted, a thoughtless lashing-out toward someone innocent. It was childish, and I hated myself for it.

I needed to change topic before the dead air became suffocating. My thoughts on Pyrrha helped me find something to talk about.

"Why isn't she the leader of her team?" I asked Ozpin, turning to face him. "Why did you choose a weak, overconfident boy to lead Team JNPR when it's obvious he doesn't belong here? Why did you choose a naive, far too young girl to lead Team RWBY? Wouldn't Weiss Schnee or Blake Belladonna have been better choices?"

The headmaster maintained eye contact as he gave his response, "You seem to have forgotten, Miss Tenno, that Beacon is a school. I chose Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc because they have the greatest potential as team leaders. They will make mistakes, make poor judgment calls, and they will learn so much more about leadership than their teammates ever could. While Miss Schnee and Miss Nikos may have more leadership experience today, their partners can become so much more."

"Wise old words for a wise old man." I said in return. "To become the leader of an academy like Beacon, how many mistakes have you made over your life? Did you fulfill the potential promise others created for you?"

Ozpin leaned back in the desk chair, cane across his lap and ever present mug in his hands. He smiled a knowing smile.

"Mutual hypocrisy."

My mood instantly turned sour once more. "I'm going to explore the campus." I said, turned away and stalked toward the door, intent on destroying something. Perhaps I could experiment with the capabilities of Aura as well.

* * *

"Approaching desired coordinates, Lotus. Scans show no potential hostile activity in the sector." The transmission link crackled as Ordis spoke. "Lotus, if I may ask – WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING – what are your plans in this area of dead space? While Pluto is a very nice planet – IT'S NOT A PLANET YOU MORON – I don't see anything that can help us here, just a cluster of asteroids."

The Lotus did not answer the Cephalon's questions, but began inputting a series of commands into the navigation panel instead. Ordis fell silent as she worked.

Finally, the Lotus spoke, "Ordis, I want you to send a Void Pulse toward this coordinate, then execute this series of maneuvers. No matter what happens, do not deviate from this flight path. Do you understand?"

"Ehrm, yes. Yes! I understand, Lotus. I am awaiting your command to – GIMME THE WHEEL – initiate your inputs. Ready whenever you are."

The Lotus drew in a deep breath, unsure if the flight path was correct, or if the thing she needed was there at all. "Very well. Engage."

"Initiating Void Pulse in five… four – THREE TWO ONE GO – firing!"

A bright wave of Void Energy rippled out of the Orbiter, distorting space as it advanced toward its destination. As the wave began to dim and dissipate, it appeared to impact an invisible object, spreading itself out against it.

Then the Void Energy flashed like lightning, accelerating into a shockwave of light. An enormous object unveiled itself in its wake, composed of rock and golden metal.

The Orbiter was already moving, swerving in and out of vast canyons and through gigantic golden machines springing to life as Void Energy washed them into existence.

"Lotus! What have you done!?" Ordis yelled over the Orbiter's engines running at full power. "First Luna, and now Charon!? How many moons did the Orokin take to the Void!?"

The Lotus, once again, did not answer. She continued to kneel at the navigation console, hand hovering over a holographic button. As more and more of Pluto's moon unveiled itself from the Void, its overall purpose became clear. The rocky material was split into eight sections by massive gold struts, but not evenly. The moon was fragmented just so as to stretch the rocky material around a cylindrical, hollowed out core.

And the Orbiter was flying straight into the core of Charon.

"Whatever your plan is, Lotus, I – HATE IT WITH A PASSION – sincerely hope it works!" Ordis yelled into the transmission link. The window they had to get this right was incredibly brief; it was open for barely a second.

"Flight path concluding in three… two… one!"

The Lotus pressed the holographic button.

The entirety of Charon ignited in bright blue energy for the briefest of moments before directing all of it through its hollowed out cylindrical core. This energy encompassed the Orbiter in a secure shell before accelerating it through Charon's core, launching it into deep space.

With the window closed, Charon powered down, machinery slowed, energy dissipated. The Void-Cloak Generator reinitialized, and Pluto's moon gradually began to disappear into the Void once more.

The asteroids passing by Pluto came alive and converged around the vanishing moon. One of them released a continuous Void Pulse into the Void-Cloak Generator, shutting it down indefinitely.

The Grineer Queens were now in control of the Origin System's only Extra-Solar Rail.


	8. Chapter 8: Choices

It took running a hand through my hair and finding a twig to realize how absolutely filthy I had gotten. Why hadn't anyone else told me I stunk of dead leaves and river water? Regardless, I made personal hygiene a priority and began searching for Beacon's fitness room, as I remembered passing by restrooms on my way there from the Infirmary. It made sense for areas designed for physical fitness to have public showers available to people who want to get cleaned after exercising.

My memory served me well, but they were locker rooms instead of restrooms. I entered the female section and was immediately assaulted by a strong wave of sterilizing agents. Even though the smell was unpleasant, I could trust the showers to be clean enough.

As I made my way through the rows of lockers, I noticed that no one else was here. All of the lockers were empty and open as well. No free credit pickups for me.

The showers themselves had two variants; communal, which were open, and private, which were individual faucets each behind a thick curtain. Unfortunately, I had no soap, so I would need to make do with just hot water.

I chose the middle communal faucet and turned the single knob as far as it would go. The faucet sputtered for a moment as it purged air from the pipes, ran cold for a minute as it circulated water, then gradually increased in temperature. I dialed back the knob to a temperature I felt was just right, then stepped under the stream.

I ran my fingers through my hair to keep it from clinging to my face. Bits of leaves, dirt, and even another twig came loose in my hand. I should have felt annoyed at myself for leaving loose debris in my hair, but the hot water just felt _so soothing_. My Tenno jumpsuit grew darker as the dirt and dust washed away under the stream.

 _Speaking of which… how do I remove this thing?_

I felt around my chest for a seam of some sort, but found nothing. My back and sides also lacked a seam of any description, but my spine had an extra ridge that did not feel like bone. Tracing that ridge up to my neck, I felt a metallic protrusion where the spine met the skull. Perhaps this suit was never meant to be removed? Considering I was never supposed to leave a transference pod, it made some sort of sense.

While feeling around the metallic protrusion, I inadvertently pressed a button.

In the span of two seconds, my Tenno jumpsuit came alive and retracted from my limbs, over my torso, and into the ridge on my spine, layering the material as it moved.

The newly revealed skin was paler than Weiss' hair. I could plainly see dark blue veins along my arms and legs. Sudden exposure to open air and hot water was shocking, but not unpleasant. My bare hands were thin and bony, ligaments popping out as I flexed my fingers.

Looking down, my chest was smooth but vein-y, heart beat clearly visible on my skin. My lower torso was just as smooth and pale with no body hair at all. My thighs were thin and laced with dark blue veins. My knee caps were very prominent and scrunched up the skin around the joint. The lower legs and feet told the same story as the arms and hands.

I looked more like a starved corpse than something alive, and it disgusted me. This was not the body of a greatly respected – _feared_ – warrior. How could I call myself such if I looked like a victim of starvation? I wanted to change it, make it stronger, make it my own.

Warframes were not me. This was me, and I had nothing to call myself Tenno. What good would the Void's power do for me if I couldn't keep myself physically functional?

' _Beacon Academy does not discriminate against one's race or ethnic background. All are welcome to attend. Even you._ '

' _We make very powerful individuals, Miss Tenno. I believe you have what it takes to become the greatest huntress Remnant, or your world, has ever seen._ '

By the stars, was it really that simple? I looked over my sickly body one more time, and made my decision. I shut off the faucet, redeployed my jumpsuit, shook my head to clear it of water, and left for the combat training facility.

* * *

"Energy shell is stable and shows no signs of degradation." Ordis reported through the transmission link. "Lotus, while I have many, many questions regarding what just happened, I know you won't answer them. For now, I will remain silent – AND PLAY PONG – for the five months it will take to reach this star system."

The Lotus walked down the Liset's ramp and into the Orbiter, content with Ordis' report for the moment. She knew the Cephalon had a soft spot for conversation, and would gladly provide company when asked. For now, her task resided at the very back of the Orbiter's interior.

Passing by an inert Infested hatch, the Lotus stopped in front of a double door with a glowing yellow symbol. She waved a hand over it and the symbol disappeared, unlocking the room. Long unused lights flickered to life, revealing a transference pod connected to rough crystalline tubes. Upon approach, the transference pod opened with a hiss and whir, revealing an empty seat.

The room itself was bare and spacious, ready to receive memorable achievements and trophies. The Lotus sat in the transference pod and leaned back, but the device refused to close around a non-Tenno occupant. For now, she would rest. Then, she would prepare the transference pod for a Tenno occupant.

The Origin System could do without her guidance for a brief while.

* * *

The hypnotic, muffled clash of steel rang through Beacon's hallways as I approached the combat training facility. It was around mid-afternoon, so I assumed most students had been dismissed from their classes. I pushed open the heavy door to the facility's interior.

The room was very large. Large enough to comfortably fit two Lephantis with plenty of room to move. To my left and right were two rows of large octagonal pads with a terminal at each one, presumably arenas for multiple teams. Each side had six of these pads, with a total of twelve for the whole room.

One of these arenas was in use, judging by the sound of steel scraping steel and the occasional shimmer of a force field. Two students were watching another two on one of the platforms mid way down the length of the room. I couldn't make out who they were from my position, but I really didn't care. The heavy door closed with an echoing clack, no doubt announcing my entrance.

I approached the closest arena's terminal, which asked me to authenticate myself with some kind of personal multipurpose communication device. Regardless of what it requested, I didn't have it. I made a few experimental presses on the rectangular screen, but it wouldn't respond.

Then someone shoved their hand between me and the screen. It was holding a rectangular object, and the terminal beeped in acquiescence, changing the screen. I glanced up at the limb's owner.

"There you go, kid," The obnoxiously tall male student smugly said. "You need a Scroll to operate these things, but they don't just hand them out to children."

"What did you call me!?" I snarled back at him. I recognized him now. Cardin Winchester of Team CRDL.

He didn't flinch from my retort, smirking down at me, "Aw, kid. Did I hit a sore spot? How about you go back to your mommy and daddy and let the men go back to their training?"

I already hated him. "I'm more of a warrior than you could ever hope to be, coward!" By the stars, why did I have to be so short?

He laughed at me. "Yeah, sure kid. Whatever. If you think you can defeat me one-on-one, then why not try to prove it?"

I glared at him, then turned to walk onto the octagonal platform. After reaching the far end, I turned back around to face Cardin's amused expression.

"You got guts, kid," Cardin chuckled as he took his position opposite mine. He hefted a ludicrously large mace over his shoulder from his back. "Just so you know, I've never hit a human girl before."

' _They are called Faunus, Miss Tenno, and they have just as much a reason to be here as anyone else._ '

Ozpin, you blind, arrogant fool.

The rest of CRDL had abandoned the other arena to watch their leader fight me.

"Since you don't have a Scroll, I'll let you decide when to forfeit. If I drop below 15% Aura, which won't happen, you will win." Cardin fell into a loose combat stance. I followed suit.

A holographic '3' appeared between us, shortly flickering to '2', then to '1'.

'BEGIN'


	9. Chapter 9: Cost

_What the hell did you get yourself into, Tenno?_

I realized I had made an enormous mistake the moment Cardin started charging toward me with his oversized mace held high. Instincts took over and I willed myself to dodge back-

 _ **FWOOM**_

-and instantly smacked against the forcefield bordering the arena that should have been several meters behind me. Cardin's mace struck the floor I previously occupied a second later. The harsh impact stunned me, giving my opponent ample time to recover from their attack. I focused back on Cardin just in time to see him charging once again, mace held skyward. Without any more room to evade, I shot my hand toward the mace in a desperate attempt to defend myself-

 _ **BT-DEEW**_

-which reversed the momentum of Cardin's weapon easily. Unprepared for the extreme shift in force, my opponent lost his grip on the mace which struck the forcefield at the opposite end of the dueling platform. I took my chance to go on the offensive, willed myself forward-

 _ **FWOOM**_

-and sent Cardin airborne. His body arced over the arena, fearfully screaming. I watched from the arena's center as he rebounded off the forcefield and struck the floor harshly. He scrambled to his feet, grabbed the mace, and entered a much more defensive stance. He held his weapon horizontally and started circling me cautiously. His team yelled something at him, but I didn't care enough to listen to them.

"Damn bitch," Cardin muttered loud enough for me to hear, "She knows a few tricks. Whatever. One good hit and this match is over."

I didn't respond, knowing that anything I say could be used against me. My opponent hadn't quite grasped that concept.

"Just one good hit," He kept muttering while continuing to circle me. "One good hit and it's over. Just one. All it takes."

Cardin was right for once; I could end this pointless fight with one good hit.

I relaxed my stance slightly so I could concentrate on channeling the chaotic energies of the Void into my hand. Ribbons of black power mingled with wisps of lime-green sparks, weaving themselves over my arm and through my fingers. I took aim at the floor between myself and my opponent and released-

 _ **BWOOOOOMMM**_

-a titanic surge of raw power into the arena. It easily shredded the platform to bits and continued digging into the floor directly below Cardin. Blue sparks erupted from the arena as the surge of power shattered and overloaded holographic emitters and delicate electronic components. The forcefield flickered and died once the platform's power supply had been severed. I willed the flow of Void energy to halt its discharge after realizing the scope of what I had unleashed.

Between myself and Cardin was a nearly perfect circular hole in the ground at a 45 degree angle. Smoke rose from the platform's fried circuitry, filling the air with the stench of burnt plastic and electronics. Cardin himself was, somehow, physically unharmed, but he held an expression of utter terror. His mace fell to the floor with a loud thud, and a dark spot was growing between his legs.

The sight of Team CRDL fleeing from the training facility was the last thing I saw before lost consciousness for the second time that day.

* * *

Someone lifted up my eyelid and shone an entirely too-bright light directly into my eye. I swatted it away before a migraine could manifest itself, but not before spots of darkness burned themselves into my vision. The stench of fried circuitry still hung in the air.

"You're much more trouble than I expected, Miss Tenno." The voice of Glynda Goodwitch chastised me once again. "While much of Beacon's equipment is not expected to last a full semester, willful destruction of said equipment will not be tolerated."

"It was an accident, Goodwitch," I mumbled as I sat up. "I'm still getting used to this 'Aura' thing."

My reply was honest, even if it made me look weak. The only Void-based abilities I could utilize were, so far, a continuous beam-like discharge originating from my hand, a burst discharge to amplify punches or to parry incoming attacks, and a quick dash that can send opponents airborne. My Aura has only affected the Void-beam with devastating results, at least so far. I clearly needed more practice regarding Aura usage if I didn't want to knock myself out after every use.

"I can see that. Whatever you did exhausted your Aura reserves. Under normal circumstances, you would be in a coma for at least twelve hours, a full week at most. Yet here you are, awake and alert after barely two minutes. You are something else, Miss Tenno." Glynda stood up and swiped at some things on her tablet. "Hopefully Atlas isn't back-ordered on Dueling Platforms; the warranty on this one is still good."

"How did you know I was out for two minutes? You weren't here." I asked while standing up.

"This thing alerted me." She replied, tapping the tablet in her arms. "One of the platforms sent out a critical damage signal just before going offline. I then switched to the live security camera feed in this room and caught Team CRDL running out the door and you collapsing on the damaged platform." Her free hand went to her hip. "If you claim what happened here was an accident, and the security feed confirms it, you'll be off the hook. For now, you will be confined to your quarters for the rest of today."

I rolled my eyes and groaned in annoyance, but made no attempt to argue further. Glynda had my testimony. There was nothing else to say further.

At least I felt better after destroying something.

* * *

Just before I was finished being escorted to my room by Goodwitch, I realized that I didn't have anything else to do. A wave of students were just getting out of their afternoon classes, clogging up the hallway with noise and bodies blocking my vision. _Everyone_ was taller than me!

Glynda unlocked my door with her tablet and opened it for me. She gestured for me to enter and I did so, but not before sending a brief glare her way. I did not need her hovering over me like a parental guardian. She closed the door shortly after I entered the room.

Thankfully, my room was vacant of other people. The chair Ozpin sat on earlier was neatly pushed under the desk. On said desk, however, was a small box with stylized designs and an image of what Cardin had said was a Scroll. Opening the decorated cardboard revealed a thin device, multiple leafs of paper I could only assume were instructions, and a charger cable. I pressed the yellow diamond button on the Scroll, causing it to pop open and play an obnoxious chime. A video tutorial played on the transparent screen, showcasing all of the features the current model of "Scroll" could provide.

I quickly skipped the tutorials, already familiar with a multitude of different user interfaces. This one was just a stylized personal communication device. Oddly enough, it asked me to sync itself with an electronic door lock. Recalling one on my own door, I brought the Scroll near it. Both devices beeped, and the door unlocked itself.

I slapped myself in the face for realizing I was locking myself out of the room every time I left. If it wasn't for Glynda letting me back in, I would be stuck outside.

I made an affirmation with myself to never leave this room without this Scroll, but now I had another problem to deal with; my jumpsuit has no pockets.

Groaning at the implications of wearing the same ridiculous clothing as the students here, I looked in the room's only dresser to find a dictionary, extra bed sheets, and a… package of crystals?

The package called itself 'Dust Lamp Replacements', but that told me nothing of value. The four crystals were pale yellow, cut like an emerald, all the same size, and trapped between sturdy cardboard and vacuum sealed plastic. On the cardboard was a snowflake symbol in the corner with the words 'Mined and Refined by the Schnee Dust Company'.

Schnee. Weiss Schnee. Her icy attitude wasn't an act. She was definitely related to this company in a big way. How big, I wasn't certain, but the very thought of companies and corporations and the deplorable things they would do for their oh so precious _profit_ left a bad taste in my mouth. The Corpus weren't on Remnant; I was fairly certain of that, but their cult-like fascination with monetary gain seemed to transcend their own race.

I placed the package of crystals on the dresser and searched the other drawers, finding them empty. The term 'Dust' bounced around in my mind, begging for an explanation to rest upon. I turned my attention to the dictionary and carried it toward the desk; it was much heavier than it looked.

I sat down in the chair, only for my eyes to barely clear the top of the desk. With an annoyed sigh, I hauled the dictionary off the desk and onto the bed.

I opened the heavy book and didn't close it until the early morning.


	10. Chapter 10: Paths

I found reading through a dictionary enjoyable.

 _I found reading through a dictionary enjoyable._

By the stars, that was embarrassing to admit, even to myself. Fortunately, I learned a lot about Remnant that night. Dust was a variable crystalline energy source that was reactive to Aura and sources of great enough energy to set it off. Hunters utilized this substance to power/augment their weaponry and/or Semblances, respectively. Given Dust's strange but no doubt useful properties, I wondered if it could be used to modify my own abilities in some beneficial way.

The strangest term I found belonged to 'The Creatures of Grimm'. The dictionary had three full pages dedicated to various images and descriptions for different variations of Grimm. They were the black monsters I saw two days ago during Beacon's Initiation, and the dictionary wanted to make on thing clear about these creatures; Grimm had no soul, were drawn to negative emotion, and hated humanity absolutely.

Many of the sketches in the dictionary depicted monsters similar to the animals of old-Earth, such as the Ursa, Deathstalker, and Goliath, but blown out of proportion with bony armor plates covering their hide. Some looked unnatural, like the Creep and Beowolf. What purpose would a creature with two legs, a stubby tail, and a mouth have in the natural world? The Creep's existence made absolutely no sense in that regard.

One of the most curious terms in the dictionary was the word 'Semblance'. This was an innate ability unique to every individual with an unlocked Aura. It wasn't something that manifested itself explicitly, and often needed to be learned over the course of one's life. I had to wonder what my Semblance could possibly have been. Maybe I was already using it? The ability to transfer Aura into Void discharges, amplifying the output?

The Schnee Dust Company had no entry in the dictionary I read from. Instead, I consulted the Scroll I was given for relevant information.

The SDC had a monopoly on the extraction, refinement, and distribution of all things Dust. This fact already left a rotten taste in my mouth. I had dealt with enough Corpus to see the extent of their amoral practices when profit was involved. An unchallenged corporation has far more control over peoples' lives than they let on. Ethics fall away, working conditions degrade, and the tactical removal of 'unwanted assets' becomes commonplace. Unfortunately for the Corpus, the Tenno kept a strict eye on their business practices and took action when necessary. The SDC had no such restrictions.

Well, that wasn't entirely true.

While researching the Schnee Dust Company, the term 'White Fang' kept appearing in news articles related to them. Research into the White Fang itself yielded mixed results. Some sources called them Faunus terrorists seeking to commit genocide against humanity. Other sources heralded them as freedom fighters for the Faunus with the goal of equality with humans. Finding any history regarding the radical militants was difficult to uncover and opinionated at best.

The White Fang held patterns, however. Many of their attacks were focused on Schnee Dust Company assets; destroying Dust shipments, active protests, burning offices, liberating work camps, and even assassinations against SDC management. The White Fang lacked manpower and resources to begin a large scale assault on the SDC, so they relied on guerrilla tactics to chip away at their enemies.

I couldn't hold back a smile. The Tenno relied on the same strategies when fighting the Grineer, Corpus, and Infested. I myself often utilized stealth when possible, opting to eliminate my foes before reinforcements can be called. Because of that, I held respect for the White Fang and the cause they fought for.

They wouldn't go to such extreme measures if doing so wasn't necessary.

The gentle thumps of footsteps outside broke my information-gathering stupor. A quick glance out of the window gave evidence of early dawn, with condensation on the glass and contrasting cloud colors. This may have been the first time I watched a sunrise planetside. At least, not while in a survival situation.

Regardless, the students moving outside my room toward whatever they needed to go before classes made me realize how long I had been researching. I dog-eared the dictionary page, closed it, then hauled it onto the desk.

As if on cue, someone started knocking on my door. I could only assume it was either Ozpin or Glynda coming to speak with me about the little incident with CRDL yesterday. While the destruction of the dueling pad wasn't my intention, the security footage of the fight probably won't aid my testimony. I took a quick breath and opened the door.

"Good morning, Miss Tenno." Ozpin greeted me, cane and mug in hand. "I hope your night was not exceedingly boring. May I come in?"

"No reason not to." I replied, moving to lean against the wall opposite the desk. "So why are you here?"

The Headmaster took a seat on the desk chair, turning it to face me. "Cutting to the chase. Alright. I won't bore you with details. First, your destructive incident with Cardin Winchester has been deemed an accident. It was clear that you had no training with your abilities and inadvertently destroyed school property as a result."

 _That wouldn't be the case if the platform was out of warranty_ , I thought to myself.

"Second," He continued, "I would like to discuss your future plans regarding Beacon Academy. You can stay and become a student, where your abilities can be refined and strengthened further. Or, you can leave Beacon and explore Remnant on your own. I cannot permit you to stay at Beacon longer than a week without becoming a student or member of faculty, barring extreme circumstances. You will have five days to make your choice."

Ozpin made a move to stand up.

"Headmaster," I said, halting his movement, "I already made my choice; I want to become a student at Beacon Academy."

He settled back into the chair and took a sip from his steaming mug. "I did not expect you to reach a decision so quickly. Admitting you into Beacon will be a rather simple task, seeing as you already completed Initiation. You'll be issued two uniforms to wear on alternating days as well." Sip. "Since the Freshman class has teams of four already, you will be able to decide which one will become a team of five."

"No." I interjected. "I fight at my best alone. Teammates will only slow me down."

Ozpin smirked at my response. "Perhaps being a lone beowolf is your specialty, but this is a school, Miss Tenno. If you lack the knowledge to work with a team of individuals, then why not learn now?"

I looked to the floor and sneered at it. Curse his infallible logic! I wanted to become stronger on my own, not become dependent on kids to do work for me!

The image of my sickly body flashed through my mind.

"Fine, but I need time to choose a team to join. I won't leave something like this to chance."

Sip. "Very well, then. Come to my office once you have made your choice."

Once Ozpin left, I started pacing around the room. Second thoughts flew through my mind like a snowstorm, relentlessly doubting my choice to become a student. They whispered temptations of how easy it would be to leave the campus and find my own way through Remnant. For a few moments, that sounded like a great idea, but I never found the will to act on it.

I chose this path for myself. May as well follow it.

* * *

 **Author's Note: This story is, for me, a learning experience. That's basically what fanfiction is, a medium through which people can learn how to write. I have learned a lot about writing through this story, and I will continue to do so as long as others are enjoying it.**

 **There are mistakes in this story, whether it's characterization, world building, pacing, update rate, or use of clichés. I'm learning, I will get better, and I'm far from finished with this story.**

 **Thanks for reading. Every review helps.**


	11. Chapter 11: Reveals

The sound of a heavy wood crate sliding on a concrete floor permeated the warehouse atmosphere. Two Faunus wearing White Fang uniforms pushed said crate into the last open space next to dozens of identical boxes, labeled in thick black paint, "Dust".

With the last box in place, a second pair of Faunus covered the stacks of heavy wooden crates with a noisy green tarp. All four White Fang grunts heaved out a collective sigh of relief and collapsed to the floor, happy to finally rest after twelve hours of hauling an illegally acquired Dust stockpile from a Bullhead.

"Well done you furry mongrels!" Roman Torchwick insultingly praised as he strutted from the warehouse offices, spinning his weaponized cane all the while. "Muts like you work so much faster when you're given a bone to chase." He then pulled a water bottle from his coat and tossed it to the ground.

The four masked Faunus exchanged hesitant glances before the grunt closest to the bottle reached out to take it. Just as his hand touched the plastic, it shattered into glass-like fragments.

"Woo-hoo-hoo! Aw, man! That never gets old!" Roman's howling laughter echoed around the warehouse. "Good one, Neo! We really had him going that whole time! He's a Camel Faunus! What use do they have for water, right!?"

In a flash of reforming glass-like shards, Neopolitan appeared at Roman's side, twirling her parasol and smirking down at the disappointed Faunus. He knew better than to start a confrontation against his racist boss, doubly so after seeing who was standing unamused behind them.

"Roman." She stated simply, and all noise inside the warehouse ceased for a brief second.

The man in question turned around with wide open arms with Neo following shortly after. "Ah, the illustrious Cinder Fall. It's not every day the world gets to see you without your lackeys trailing you like lost puppies. Speaking of, you're gracing us a full month early. What's the occasion?"

Cinder's eyes moved from Roman, to the four Faunus watching their exchange, to the crates of Dust, to Neopolitan's vaguely apprehensive gaze. Her head tilted slightly, and Neo's expression eased up.

"Complications have arisen and the plans will need to be changed." Cinder sauntered past Roman and grabbed him by the coat. "Let us discuss our next move in private and away from prying eyes. Neo, if you would, please."

Neopolitan smiled at the vague request and turned her attention to the four White Fang grunts. As soon as Roman was out of earshot, she made an exaggerated head-tilt toward the floor before skipping off to Cinder's meeting.

One unopened bottle of water appeared at each of the Faunus' feet.

* * *

"We're not taking down the bunk beds and that's final!"

"You don't understand! They're ugly and will give us a bad first impression!"

"Oh yeah!? Well I think our new teammate will like them! Bunk beds are voted cool by three out of four members of Team RWBY!"

"I only said they were efficient."

"Correction, three out of four _wanted_ bunk beds! As a result, they will stay, leader's orders!"

"You insufferable little red… Fine! But don't blame me when they find your sleeping arrangements appalling!"

This was when the door to Team RWBY's room opened, revealing Weiss Schnee holding the door knob, Ruby Rose standing on top of a chair, Blake Belladonna reading a book in her bed, and Yang Xiao Long leaning back in another chair with her feet propped up on the only desk in the room. Four pairs of eyes turned to me, each with an expression of shock, excitement, boredom, and curiosity. I had my two academy uniforms draped over one arm and a bag of school supplies in the other.

"Sup Tenno." Yang waved. "Nice to see you again."

A burst of rose petals riding a gust of wind blew over me, and Ruby was now in between myself and Weiss in the doorway. "Oh my gosh! My older-looking-but-somehow-slightly-shorter-than-me doppelgänger is gonna be our new teammate! This is so cool but also really, really weird! Uh, oh! Beds! I don't know if there's enough room for a fifth bed. Ozpin never gave us a spare to use-"

"I don't need a bed." I cut her off as I walked inside.

The dorm room was a mess, as were the makeshift bunk beds. One bed was being held up by ropes nailed into the ceiling, the other was separated from the lower by four stacks of books holding up the legs. They looked unstable and about to fall at any moment. How did they manage to get beds up there in the first place?

"Does that have to do with what you said yesterday?" Blake asked as she bookmarked her page and closed the cover. "When you said you had a lot to tell us?"

I nodded at her inquiry, "Yes. Because of how I am, things like sleep and nutrition are not required for me to survive. Don't ask me how it's possible, as I don't entirely know myself."

"I've heard stories of people surviving for weeks without food or water in the deserts of Vacuo," Yang said, "Their Aura kept them going long enough to be rescued, but that's totally different from surviving exclusively off it."

"Aura doesn't sustain me," I responded, "Something else is."

Weiss' hand rested on the hilt of her rapier. "The Creatures of Grimm don't have Aura and survive by unknown means. What you're saying sounds very suspicious."

I balked at her assumption, quickly striding into her personal space. "I am not a Grimm, you polished Kubrow dropping!"

Ruby was soon between me and her, lightly pushing us apart, "Okay, okay, name calling is not nice, even though I don't know what a 'Kubrow' is. Let's apologize and move on, okay?"

I kept my eyes on Weiss as I backed off, but her gaze flipped between myself and Ruby. After an exasperated sigh, Weiss finally relented with an apology.

"Fine. I should not have voiced my assumption that you were a Creature of Grimm." As close to one as she would allow, anyway.

Ruby smiled at her partner's display of weakness. "Good. Tenno? What would you like to apologize for?"

I continued to glare at Weiss, never intending to follow Ruby's orders. "I've seen your kind before. The wealthy and powerful. Content to exploit the people around you for even just a chance to profit from their suffering, and I'm the one to pick up the pieces, to clean up your mess. The day I apologize to you is the day the very last star goes black."

I dropped my uniforms and school supplies in the middle of the dorm room to punctuate my stance with their thud. The room fell eerily silent as I awaited anyone's response.

"How… _dare_ you!" Weiss ground out. "Accusing me of exploiting the weak for my own gains! You don't even know why I'm at Beacon! I'm here to protect the innocent, and you accuse me of doing the opposite!?"

"She's not wrong, by the way." Blake stood up from her bunk, leaving her book on the blankets.

" _Excuse me!?_ " Weiss balked in exasperation at the challenger.

"The Schnee Dust Company has been widely known to use primarily Faunus labor to mine Dust, while none of the managers or executives are Faunus themselves. Multiple articles have been published detailing the appalling work environment within the Dust mines. Some rumors suggest the workers aren't even relocated to another mine once the current one is dried up, but are instead abandoned by the higher-ups and left to the Grimm. And you wonder why the White Fang exists."

Weiss was getting red as she pointed at Blake. "Those accusations are completely untrue! The Schnee Dust miners are treated exceptionally-"

"-At the few mines where public media is granted access to." Blake interrupted. "The mines denied media access are the ones that fail to meet workplace standards. Take it from those who managed to escape enslavement."

Weiss continued to become redder as she argued with the calm and collected Blake. "The workers there are not 'enslaved'! They are all given appropriate compensation for their service!"

 _Corporations_ , I muttered before I picked up my uniforms and supplies, moving to place them into the dresser drawer and onto the desk respectively. Blake and Weiss continued to go after each other while Ruby and Yang could only watch helplessly.

"The White Fang has made running the mines difficult! Security had to be upped!"

"The White Fang is a symptom of a much larger problem! The SDC treats its workers like animals rather than people, and just like humans, they will retaliate when pushed to their limit!"

"And you are pushing me to my limit, Blake Belladonna! Why do you care so much about a species of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

"Because we are tired of being labeled as monsters!"

The room fell silent as Blake's words sunk in. Her calm demeanor shifted into one of anxiety and fear. Before Ruby could stop her, Blake bolted out the door.


	12. Chapter 12: Penance

"Great job, Ice Queen," Yang snarled toward Weiss, standing up from her seat, "Your horrible attitude scared away my partner, y _our_ teammate!"

"It's for the best." Weiss quickly countered, "She's most likely a White Fang infiltrator; you never know which Faunus is out to for your life."

"You racist little brat!" A wave of heat washed over the room as Yang stomped over to the Schnee, eyes glowing red. "This is all your fault!"

Just as Yang drew back her arm for a hate-fueled punch to Weiss' face, the Schnee drew her rapier just quickly enough to intercept the fist. The force behind the blow launched Weiss into the wall next to the door, cracking the surface and exposing the pink insulation underneath. Yang dashed toward the stunned Schnee, another punch cocked back and ready to strike her opponent.

"Yang! Stop!"

Ruby's order came too late, and her sister's fist directly impacted her partner's face.

The wall shattered on impact, sending the warring teammates tumbling into the hallway. Dust, plaster, and shreds of insulation burst from the newly created hole, obscuring their forms.

"What on Remnant is happening here!?" The regrettably familiar and shrill voice of Glynda Goodwitch made its way into the dorm room.

Upon hearing the voice of an angry authority figure, Ruby snapped out of her shock and ran towards the hole in the wall. I followed closely behind, watching the stirring dust cloud. The settling debris gradually revealed Yang and Weiss on the floor. The former was audibly coughing and attempting to stand. The latter was motionless on her back. Both were covered in white plaster, bits of wood, and shreds of pink insulation.

"Miss Xiao-Long! What is the meaning of this!?" Goodwitch yelled while glaring daggers at Yang. Ruby had knelt down beside Weiss and was attempting to wake her up. There was blood running from the Schnee's nose.

"Come on Weiss, don't do this to me," I heard Ruby whimper. It would have been a heartbreaking image if it had been anyone else lying unconscious on the floor. She deserved it.

"Oh, uh, hi there, Professor Goodwitch," Yang stammered as she hurriedly brushed off the plaster. "This isn't what it looks like, honest!" Real convincing, Yang. Could you have possibly made yourself look any more guilty?

* * *

"You seem to attract collateral damage wherever you go, Miss Tenno." Glynda commented as she escorted Ruby, Yang, and myself from Beacon's Infirmary. Weiss had suffered a broken nose and a concussion from Yang's assault. If it wasn't for her Aura, the Schnee Dust Company would be permanently down a family member.

The Headmistress continued her thought, "I was about to ask your leader if she knew why her teammate, Blake Belladonna, was leaving campus grounds in a panic, but I think I can surmise the answer."

I shrugged at her vague implication, "She said the wrong things, gave away something she thought was critically important about herself, panicked, and ran away before Ruby could stop her. Where she went is anyone's guess."

"I just hope she's okay…" Ruby muttered. She had been quiet most of the way from the Infirmary.

"I'm sure she's fine, Rubes." Yang offered while picking bits of plaster out of her hair. "Blake's a smart girl. She'll be okay."

"If she's smart enough to survive on her own, then she's smart enough to avoid her teammates as well." I said. It was an unfortunate truth of tracking intelligent targets. Those that don't want to be found have the knowledge and wisdom to avoid being found.

"Avoid trouble, is what you mean to say," Yang unnecessarily corrected me. "We'll find her and welcome her back with open arms. Won't we, Rubes?"

Ruby was morosely staring at the floor, but perked up at the mention of her nickname. "Yeah. We will. Even Weiss will want her back."

I rolled my eyes at her naive optimism, but stayed silent. People like Weiss Schnee don't change.

As far as punishments went, Yang was to serve detention until she herself fixed the hole in the wall. She took the conditions strangely well, but didn't say why.

Glynda left us at the dorm room, informing Yang that the janitorial staff would stop by soon to deliver the materials for repairing the wall. It was after Goodwitch departed that Ruby's Scroll started ringing. She apparently needed an alarm to tell her when lunch hour began.

"Lunch already? The day sure flies when you're having fun." Yang said as she dropped down from her bunk, pocketing her own Scroll. "Wanna come with, Tenno? It'll get boring without us around."

I shook my head without looking away from my Scroll as I sat on Blake's unoccupied bunk. "No. Someone has to wait for the janitor."

"Okay, suit yourself." Yang nodded and left through the hole. Ruby departed in a flurry of rose petals just behind her sister.

I didn't actually want to wait for the janitor. The truth was, I became rather exhausted from walking to Beacon's Infirmary and back. It didn't help that we took the stairs.

For the moment, I was alone. Just how I liked it. The peaceful solitude wouldn't last, unfortunately.

A knocking sound interrupted my research of Remnant's history and current events. I briefly glanced up to see a very large man in green and silver clothes standing in the hole carrying two large boxes.

"Yo. Delivery to Team RWBY's dorm. Where do you want it?" He asked in a very succinct manner. There appeared to be a mane of dark hair around his face and two animal ears atop his head.

I pointed to the unbroken wall next to the door. He followed my finger, walked to the designated location, carefully placed the boxes on the floor and moved to leave. Quick and efficient. Just how I-

"Have a good day,"

 _By the stars, kill me now._

* * *

Ruby and Yang returned to the dorm room in jovial fashion.

"-and could you imagine Uncle Qrow doing that!? There's no way he would! He's too awesome!" Ruby's voice echoed through the halls.

"Dad told me the story himself, Crater Face." Crater Face? "And there's many different types of 'awesome', as I'm not done. When he found the Ursa den, he used them to kill every Grimm there. He turned the phrase from an insult into a badge of honor, and so, 'Potato Chest' was his nickname for the week."

The digital lock on the door clicked and it swung open. Then the sisters noticed the hole in the wall, and promptly slapped their faces in unison. I had to smile at that.

"Yang, your stuff's here," Ruby vaguely said as she hopped onto her bunk and pulled out her Scroll.

There was a familiar knock and the janitor who delivered the boxes earlier was once again standing in the doorway, but carrying a single box this time.

Yang gasped at his sudden appearance. "Big Tim? Is that you?"

The man nodded, a broad smile spreading across his face. "It's been a while, Lil'Wyrm. I have one more delivery for you, but first, I need to know how you managed to get into trouble this time."

 _Oh, great. These two know each other._

"I punched a racist brat through a wall." Yang pounded her fists together and smiled back. "I bet you know all about that."

"Ah, yes. The collateral damage you caused gave me three raises back at Signal. Working security there became an adventure every day, not to mention a lucrative wage." Big Tim handed the box over to Yang.

"If you made so much at Signal, why quit and become a janitor at Beacon?" She placed the new box next to the two on the floor.

"They let me go after you left." He smirked. "As it turns out, you were the only reason I was employed there in the first place, though I'm not done being a security guard just yet."

"Really? What's your new gig?"

"The SDC, believe it or not,"

This caught my attention.

"No way, really!?"

"You bet your lunch money on it, Lil'Wyrm. There's an incoming shipment tonight I have to watch, and I better not see you or your team there."

Jackpot.

"We wouldn't dream of it," Ruby affirmed behind her Scroll.

"That's good to hear, Lil'Rose. Now, if the Huntresses no longer require my services, I humbly request to take my leave." Big Tim bowed down unnecessarily.

 _By the stars, just go._

"I hereby grant your request, sir Timothy!" Ruby announced to the dorm room. "You are permitted to take your leave."

"I thank you for having me, Lady Rose, Lady Xiao-Long, and-"

"Tenno," Yang answered for me.

"-Lady Tenno." He then made an over-flourished turn to leave through the door. "Have a good day."

 _That was annoying._

"I love Big Tim," Ruby said with a smile behind her Scroll.

Yang got to work unpacking the boxes of wall-repair materials, then she turned toward her sister after organizing everything in front of the hole.

"Hey, Ruby?" She asked.

"We can't help you with this. It's your job." Ruby replied automatically.

"Ruby, why are you and Tenno still here?" Her voice rose slightly in volume, as if we were missing something of great importance.

"Go find Blake!"

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thank you for reading my story! This chapter was a lot of fun to write, and I hope it's just as fun to read.**

 **If you are wondering about shipping, my answer is 'there will be none', aside from a few teases every once in a while. There will be no unnecessary romance subplots. That's not for me.**

 **There is a 'Juicy Bit' coming next chapter. I hope I can get that out in a reasonable timeframe.**


	13. Chapter 13: Search

"So where should we start looking first?" Ruby asked me as we departed from the terminal ferrying people between Vale City and Beacon Academy. "It's been an hour since Blake left. She could be anywhere in the city by now."

The city in question held enough of my attention that I failed to immediately answer. There were people, civilians, everywhere. Never had I seen so many people doing so many different things in one place. The Tenno Relays in the Origin System were the only places I got to watch a large congregation of civilians, but they were incomparable to the crowds of Vale.

"Uh, Tenno? You still with me? Hello?" Ruby waved her hand in front of my face, and I blinked, shook my head, then quickly swatted her offending limb away.

"Do _not_ do that again!" I snapped at her, "Startling me like that will get you killed, understand!?"

Ruby recoiled back, looking like a kicked Kubrow puppy, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I understand now! Don't sneak up on you, got it!"

The extra confirmations and apologies were completely unnecessary, but I didn't say anything more. I had to conserve as much strength as possible on the off chance we got into a fight searching for Blake. We reached street level without incident.

" _BLAKE!_ "

Well, almost without incident.

My hand shot up to cover Ruby's mouth as I darted in front of her, "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" I harshly whispered as someone walked by, looking at us suspiciously, "Blake does _not_ want to be found! Yelling her name in the streets will alert her to our presence, then we will never find her, understand?"

Ruby nodded.

I remove my hand from her mouth and continued walking down the street, glancing down alleyways and into buildings as I moved forward. Ruby caught up to my gait, staying silent as we began our search.

Beyond searching for Ruby's teammate, this provided an ample opportunity to learn the layout of the city as well as points of interest worth researching later. One such location was the _Vale_ _War_ _History_ museum. Battlefield tactics from any civilization no matter how old will always have some value to them, so I made a mental note to visit them eventually.

After about an hour of walking through the busy streets of Vale, my legs were feeling rather numb. I spotted a café overlooking an intersection and motioned for Ruby to follow me into the building. There were a few patrons talking to one another, but none of them were Blake. We took a seat at one of the corner tables close to the door, just in case we needed an accessible escape.

Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, keeping her eyes on the floor, "So, um, I haven't had lunch yet. Do you think we have time to eat before looking for Blake again?"

"I have no problem with it," I replied, rubbing my legs to get blood flowing again, "We'll need to be as alert as possible if we're going to find her."

"Well, yeah. Where would she be, though? We can't search the whole city. That would take weeks!"

She had a point. Chances were, Blake was looking for a way out of Vale, and there were a few different ways to accomplish that goal. Boarding a flight was one, but the risk of being caught for any reason was too great to consider. Another way would be to leave to city on foot, but that was too slow, easily trackable, and risked contact with the Grimm. There had to be some way for her to leave Vale quickly without risk of being discovered.

I caught myself staring at the rolled up utensils on my side of the table and shook awareness back into my senses. Ruby was already eating some kind of pink cake with white cream on the top. It smelled sweet and fruity.

"Ruby, how many different ways could someone leave the city?" I asked.

"Mmm?" She hummed, then thankfully swallowed, "There's the long-range bullheads to get to another Kingdom, the Atlesian Navy for the military, a boat to get to islands like Patch, walking out any of the gates along the bordering wall, and working for the Schnee Dust Company's delivery service on one of their transports. Why do you ask?"

" _There's an incoming shipment tonight I have to watch, and I better not see you or your team there."_

I smirked as I put the pieces of a plan together.

"She's planning to become a stowaway."

* * *

Ruby and I were set up inside of a recently abandoned warehouse office overlooking the only port with some semblance of activity. Security guards walked casually along simple patrol routes intermittently, supposedly making sure the shipment goes according to routine. The sun had set an hour prior, and Blake was nowhere to be found.

We did, however, manage to spot someone else.

Ruby gasped, "Hey, look! I think that's Big Tim!"

She had her weapon resting on the window ledge with the magnification scope fully extended with the purpose of scanning the shipping dock for her wayward teammate. With nothing to do for the last three hours, Ruby had become very restless; pacing around the complex, playing games on her Scroll, trying to get me to participate in some kind of spot-the-object challenge, and messaging Yang about Weiss' condition were some of the antics she entertained herself with.

"I'm not interested in playing _I Spy,_ " I sighed, having already memorized the layout of the dock. I was meditating to pass the time.

Ruby didn't seem to hear me. "I wonder how big the shipment is since it's taking so long to arrive. Maybe it's late? Oh! I see more guards coming out."

I snapped myself into full awareness and looked out the window. Seeing a pair of moving lights in the sky, I grabbed the underside of Crescent Rose and tilted the barrel upward.

"Is that the shipment? Oh man! We have to get out there-"

"No. Not yet." I cut her off. "When it lands and begins unloading, keep your eyes on the opening. If you see Blake sneaking past the guards and onto the aircraft, that's when we move in."

Ruby made an apprehensive whine, but did not protest. We watched the dock light up as the aircraft made its approach, its engines howling as power was slowly drained. Dirt and ocean spray buffeted the window when it finally touched down on the dock. Workers disembarked the monstrous aircraft to secure it to the ground, and only then did the engines finally shut off.

Except, I could still hear them.

A row of stars began blinking sequentially, as if something was passing over them. The engine noises only became louder.

"A bullhead?" Ruby zeroed her scope on the new aircraft. "Who are these guys? Do they distribute the shipments to the rest of the city?"

"Let me see," I said, moving to take Ruby's position behind the scope.

This bullhead lacked tracking lights, was painted completely black, and had a protrusion mounted on the nose. It circled over the complex we were staying in and slowed to hover between us and the unloading airship.

"There's Blake!" Ruby pointed toward a shipping container, and sure enough, her teammate's silhouette appeared against the moon-lit ocean, weapon drawn.

The whine of an electric motor gaining speed pierced my ears.

"Ruby, we need to move in, _now_!"

 **Author's Notes:**

 **It took 10 months, but it's finally done. Here's Chapter 13.**

 **While I'm not sure how to feel about this one, I'm just happy to have finally broken through the shitty Writer's Block. Once I started, continuing felt so much easier.**

 **Happy 37th Birthday, Monty.**


	14. Chapter 14: Transfer

BRRRRRRRR- _SCHTING_!

Blake's silhouette had launched itself at the unknown airship just as its nose-mounted gatling turret opened fire on the dock. The wrenching ping of metal severing metal interrupted the weapon's heavy staccato, and the only remaining sound was the hostile airship's engines fluctuating to compensate for the sudden loss of mass.

Ruby had already jumped out the window following my command, sprinting toward Blake's silhouette, Crescent Rose extended. I would have followed suit, only if a two story drop wouldn't break my fragile legs. The stairs were too slow, and I would lose track of my allies. Thinking instinctively, I stood up on the window ledge, crouched downward, and willed myself forward-

 _ **FWOOM!**_

-and my feet touched down on rough asphalt, though not without momentum. I stumbled forward onto my hands and knees, but I didn't let myself stop. That would lose time, and too many different things could happen in that time. I righted myself and willed myself forward again-

 _ **FWOOM!**_

-this time while maintaining stride. I was already catching up to Ruby, and getting buffeted by her flower petal wake. One more forward dash should-

 _ **FWOOM-THUNK!**_

-overshoot her and slam me directly into the side of a gigantic metal shipping container. Great job, Tenno.

"Oooh, that sounded like it hurt; are you okay?" Ruby asked as she caught up. I nodded and waved her off, looking skyward for any sign of the disarmed airship's position. My eyes caught Blake's silhouette dashing over the stacked shipping containers on the other side of the dock, disappearing as she dropped from the containers.

The hostile airship could still be heard, but its engines were powered down, as if grounded. I pressed myself to the shipping container and leaned over the side to assess the transport craft and its crew.

"Ruby," I began, turning toward her, "we have multiple injured civilians from the transport, some possibly deceased. You will need to offer them aid to the best of your ability. I will-"

"What!? Why me?" She interrupted me, the fool, "I want to find Blake first and go after the bad guys!"

"Ruby! Just shut up!" I yelled, completely out of patience for her or anything else, "I will go after Blake because I can't help the civilians! Now go!"

Ruby glanced from me to Blake's last location a few times before steeling her expression, nodding, and dashing out from behind the container. Flower petals billowed from her cape.

I willed myself forward twice, once horizontally and once at an upward angle. This landed me on the container Blake was running on moments before. I followed her path behind another container, keenly aware my legs were already protesting, revealing an open area enclosed on three sides by double stacked containers. In the center of the area was the hostile aircraft, roughly fifteen armed people in white shirts and dark pants, and Blake holding a one from behind with a blade to their throat. I couldn't hear them over the aircraft's idling engines, but Blake said something to cause the other armed people to briefly lower their weapons.

She also was not wearing her bow, and her feline ears were fully visible.

Then Blake's hostage exploded something at their feet, the shockwave sending me flying off the cargo container and crashing hard onto the asphalt dock. The impact blew the wind out of me, but I suffered no cuts or scrapes like I was expecting.

A brief moment later, Blake landed a few meters away from me, stunned from the surprise blast but mostly unharmed. I pushed myself up, limbs straining already.

Another explosion shook the dock, toppling double stacked cargo containers and pushing others away. Debris from the hostile aircraft flew into the sky, raining metal scrap and chunks of slag onto the dock. The people with the white and black outfits poured from the gaps between containers, guns raised towards us and the civilians.

"Hold your fire, you trigger happy mutts," A man dressed in a white trench coat and black bowler hat stepped out from the containers, merrily twirling a cane. "You flea bags focus on securing that Dust. Leave no witnesses. The Boss and I will take care of the wannabe Hunters."

Blake had since recovered and dashed between the advancing thugs and injured civilians, weapon drawn. I willed myself toward her twice, already focusing Void energy into my hands. We had better chances fighting together.

"Tenno. _What are you doing here!?_ " Blake asked through clenched teeth.

"Getting you back to Beacon. Your leader's orders." I replied.

"Not when her partner is a racist jerk." She countered.

"Yang punched her through the wall, giving her a concussion and a nasty bruise."

"She did _wh_ -" Blake's exclamation was cut off when one of the containers vertically split and burst apart, revealing a woman wearing a red dress and balancing a flame in her hand. She strutted to bowler-hat-guy's side, staring directly at me the entire time. They exchanged some brief words before settling into a combat stance.

Ruby appeared at my other side, Crescent Rose fully extended.

"Torchwick's _mine_!" Blake exclaimed, charging through the thugs and immediately locking combat with bowler-hat-guy.

"Ruby," I commanded, "The civilians are still your responsibility. Stop the trash mobs from reaching them."

"You mean the White Fang?"

Finally, a name. "Yes, do whatever is necessary."

"Got it!" Ruby then dashed toward the White Fang thugs attempting to bypass us toward the supply ship housing the injured workers.

That just left me and the red-dress woman. She wasn't wearing much in the way of clothing, and had practically nothing resembling armor. A glass-cannon, perhaps. Her high-heeled shoes also put her at a movement disadvantage. Strangely, her hair covered one of her eyes. Was she concealing a weakness, like a scar or old wound? Either way, her lack of depth perception and full peripheral vision should be easily exploitable.

She made the first move by throwing the fireball directly at me. I dashed to the left toward an unharmed stack of cargo containers and retaliated with a quick blast of Void energy, forming a bolt-like projectile rather than a beam. The woman sidestepped the projectile easily and flung a horizontal blade of flame too low to duck under. I dashed again, barely avoiding the tip of the fire, and countered with two more Void bolts. She sidestepped one into the path of the other.

It somehow didn't make contact. I must have just barely overshot.

The woman let out a brief laugh and unleashed a stream of flame from her hands. I dashed backwards once and to the left once, placing me inside of an open shipping container. My legs were already weak from use, and I collapsed to the grimy metal floor. I massaged my legs in a feeble attempt to get blood flowing into them again.

 _ **SSSFFFWP.**_

The shipping container was suddenly bathed in an orange glow and becoming very warm. A bright orange line appeared horizontally along the interior of the container, dripping molten slag.

I immediately stood up and dashed out the opening I entered through where I failed to notice the red circle forming at my feet. A second later and I was airborne, tumbling uncontrollably to the center of the dock.

Landing on the asphalt hurt a lot more this time, rolling multiple times until I ended up on my back. My limbs barely obeyed my commands, not nearly enough to get me on my feet. I knew I needed help.

"Tenno!" I heard Ruby yell, and a quick gust brought her to my side. Her expression carried great worry, until she looked toward someone I couldn't see, and immediately became angry.

"Grr! No one hurts my friends!" She stood and charged, and then I heard what I can only describe as the sound of solid flame scraping against bladed metal.

For a few moments, I just laid there, staring up at the stars flickering from rising smoke. Then with a deep breath, I rolled myself onto my stomach and tried to push myself up. I only managed to bring myself to a kneeling position. Standing was out of the question.

Ruby was giving her all as she attacked the red-dress woman. Every strike she made never came from the same angle twice. Unfortunately, every hit that Crescent Rose made was met with a deft parry of flame. The woman was on the defensive, but she was undoubtedly in control of the battle, something Ruby wasn't catching on to.

The red-dress woman shifted to the offensive when Ruby stopped briefly to change Crescent Rose's ammunition. Multiple fireballs erupted from the woman's hands, and Ruby made the mistake of attempting to deflect the shots.

The fire seemed to bend around the weapon, and Ruby never realized how she was struck. Her body flew back further with each impact, and she was soon tumbling on the ground helplessly. She finally stopped in front of me, barely holding onto Crescent Rose.

Somehow, Ruby was still conscious. She tilted her weapon vertically and used it as a crutch to stand on. The red-dress woman was unharmed and sauntering closer to us.

We were out matched. The only option was retreat. Distant aircraft engines only bolstered that sentiment.

"Ruby," I managed to speak, "We… need to run. They have-"

"No!" Ruby cut me off for a change, "They will hurt more people if we give up! I'm not going anywhere!"

She was being foolish, driven by a hero complex strong enough to disregard death. I reached out to Ruby to try and… stop her, perhaps.

Then my hand touched her spine.

My senses caved in, compressed, and seemed to _move_ from my body. Sense of self molded into something else, making contact with another, and merged seamlessly.

And now I- we feel _alive_ , stronger than ever before!

I open our eyes. Energy flows through my core and our limbs like electricity. We stand up fully with her legs, readying my weapon with our arms. Reload a fresh magazine.

We lock eyes with my adversary, their advance halted.

 _Take advantage of their hesitation_.

She sprints forward with our semblance, Crescent Rose twirling without effort. I slash forward, strong enough to break through their parry and send them back. We advance further, sending my adversary onto the defensive. My strength shatters their parries effortlessly, and we use our semblance to change attack angles. She slashes more, finally landing a solid hit to their side. I refuse to let up, and move in for-

 _No! Don't!_

-they recover, sending fireballs our way. She dodges them, knowing a deflection would be unwise. I dash one way and then another, closing further distance on our enemy. We force her off the dock and toward the warehouses. An aircraft flies overhead, lacking strobe lights. Reinforcements. I need to end this quick.

We twirl Crescent Rose and plant it tip first into the asphalt, chamber a fresh round, pour Void energy into the weapon's Dust cartridges, and fire.

Streams of brilliant cyan energy explode from the barrel, all focused onto their target. One lands short, blasting chunks of road, dust, and dirt into the air. Another goes wide and impacts a crane. Groaning metal reverberates for miles, and the contraption plummets to the ground.

The last one pierces the dust cloud, impacting where my enemy last stood-

 _NO! WHY WOULD YOU-_

-we waver as the sound of wrenching metal and shattering glass-

 _-NEVER WANTED THIS! GET OUT!_

 _GET! **OUT!**_

I gasped as my senses suddenly return. The surge of energy from whatever happened revitalized my body, and I stood up swiftly.

Taking stock of my surroundings, I could safely say the dock was thoroughly destroyed. Debris littered the ground, asphalt was cracked and melted in many different places, the cargo plane was surprisingly intact, and the bodies of the White Fang were littered around the cargo containers, most of them still moving.

I spotted Ruby at the dock's entrance, staring toward the warehouses. With a few dashes forward, I was soon behind her. She made no confirmation of being aware of my presence.

The unmarked airship had turned around back into Vale proper. Their reinforcements were on the retreat. We won.

I heard soft footsteps behind me. A quick glance revealed the owner to be Blake. She smirked, even though her clothes were slightly charred and had a few bruises forming on her skin. Somewhere along the line, she found her bow and re-covered her feline ears.

I sighed. "Ruby? It's over. Blake's safe and sound, and I'm pretty sure she's coming back with us."

Before Ruby finally turned around, she bent forward, clutched her stomach, and vomited onto the asphalt.

"Ruby!" Blake exclaimed and rushed to her leader's side. The girl doubled over and vomited again before pushing Blake away and sprinting down the road.

"Tenno, what happened to her?" Blake asked me with apparent concern.

I shook my head in response. "I don't know."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Took longer than I would have liked, but it's finally here. Told ya it was juicy.**

 **Also, if you want fanfic status updates, you can always look on my profile for news, or you can send me a message.**


	15. Chapter 15: Patience

Shortly after Ruby ran into the city, a rhythmic wail of sirens began closing in to our position. Local enforcement and emergency responders, most likely drawn by the explosions and column of smoke rising from the docks.

Carefully sidestepping the contents of Ruby's stomach, I followed Blake as she dashed away from the docks and into the city proper. My quick dash could be angled in any direction, so the two of us took to the rooftops to avoid being spotted by the Vale Police Force. Only once the docks were visible as distant lights did we slow down.

I was exhausted from constant dashing and running, so I promptly collapsed on the side of a whirring air-conditioning unit, gasping for air. Blake wasn't even breathing quickly, but mercifully made the stop anyway.

She leaned against my side of the AC unit and, after waiting for my breathing to normalize, asked, "So, Yang did _what_ to Weiss?"

 _Oh yeah, that._ I smirked at the memory.

"Yang punched Weiss clear through the dorm wall right as Goodwitch was crossing the hallway." I replied, "Something about her being a racist brat."

Blake's response was minimal, considering what happened. "I see." She seemed to mull over her next few words. "Are they both okay? Did Yang get expelled?"

I pushed myself up from the AC unit and dusted my hands off, "Yang has to repair the hole she made, but I doubt she'll be expelled. Weiss has a concussion, last I heard. Such a shame her aura stopped any permanent damage."

Blake balked at my statement, " _What_!? Why did you say that!? Do you hate her!?"

I didn't expect Blake's reaction to be that. "What of it? I thought you hated humans like her, being a Faunus yourself."

"No! I don't hate people! Weiss can change! You don't know her!"

I crossed my arms, "People like Weiss Schnee do not change. I have seen many like her, and they die firmly believing in their immoral ways. Do _you_ even know her?"

Blake curled her hands into fists, "No. I don't. But I am going to know her, and I will change her views on the Faunus."

 _Such naive optimism; how I wish I could share your views._

I didn't say anything, but a silent challenge was proposed and accepted between the two of us regarding Weiss Schnee. Will Blake be able to change Weiss' views on the Faunus? Only time would tell.

I uncrossed my arms, "Does this mean you are still on team RWBY?"

Blake uncurled her fists, took a deep breath, and simply nodded in response.

"Then let's head back. Everyone is worried about you."

* * *

We caught the very last ferry into Beacon from Vale that night, and were completely alone in the passenger compartment as a result. Ruby must have taken an earlier departure. The pilot wasn't happy with having to fly just two students back to the school, then back to Vale to clock out. I used the flight to rest my legs and get my breathing back under control. Blake was content to look out the window.

Beacon's campus was lifeless with the exception of an occasional insect making itself know. We walked in silence, following a mental pathway back to the team RWBY dorm room.

Blake stopped and stared at the discolored patch on the wall next to the door. I stopped as well, impressed with how quickly Yang managed to fix the hole. Shaking her head, Blake knocked on the door, since neither of us had our Scrolls.

We waited about ten seconds before the door opened.

"Blake! You came back! It's so good to see you!" Yang's bubbly and cheery voice came through the doorway. Blake smiled and walked in, with myself just behind.

" _ **YOU!**_ "

I was pulled suddenly and sharply to the side as the door closed, then roughly pressed with my back to the not-recently-repaired wall. Waves of heat washed over me as Yang pressed her arm under my neck then lifted me up to level with her bright red eyes.

" _ **What the HELL did you do to my sister!?**_ " She screamed at me, " _ **Her skirt is ripped, she threw up twice, and** **was crying** **your name! What did you do to her!?**_ "

My mind raced, searching desperately for some kind of response, "I- I don't-," I could only gasp out between breaths, then suddenly the pressure lifted and I fell to the ground, coughing.

"Get off her!" Blake yelled, shoving Yang face first to the wall perpendicular to the one she had me trapped on. "Tenno did nothing wrong! I was there! Get a hold of yourself!"

Once Blake lost the element of surprise, Yang shoved her off with ease. Blake lowered into a combative stance as she backpedaled from Yang, who had turned on her and started advancing. Both partners were ready to fight each other.

"Yang, please stop."

It was a meek, barely audible voice, but it held enough power to stop Yang in her tracks. I slowly stood up as Yang bolted to Ruby's bunk. Blake took her hand off of her weapon and relaxed, watching her partner console her leader. Ruby herself seemed to be wrapped up in her cloak and facing the wall. I could hear them talking, but couldn't make out any words.

I looked over to Blake, and could safely assume she was overhearing everything by how she shuffled in place uncomfortably. Yang finally turned to face me; her expression seethed of barely constrained anger.

"I want you to tell me _exactly_ what happened." Yang commanded, threats lacing her words.

 _Say the right things, Tenno. Do not provoke her._

I swallowed, took a deep breath, and said, "I think I discovered my Semblance. By accident."

Blake looked at me with curiosity, listening patiently. Yang crossed her arms, her gaze never wavering.

"I would rather explain it with everyone here so I don't have to repeat myself." I continued. "But the synopsis is as follows: I made physical contact with Ruby, our consciousness' merged into one, and I… made her body kill someone that was going to kill us."

Immediately, Yang's face contorted in rage and the room rose in temperature " _ **You made her commit murder!?**_ "

I could hear Ruby softly crying in her bunk.

"Yang," Blake stepped in front of me, "It was an accident, unintentional. Tenno only performed self defense."

" _ **That doesn't matter!**_ " Yang retorted viciously. " _ **Ruby promised to never kill another person! And Tenno**_ **destroyed _that promise not even a week into Beacon!_** "

Blake started arguing, again, "I saw the whole thing, Yang; Ruby was not in control of herself!"

" _ **She feels guilty, Blake! Whether or not she was in control is meaningless! What Tenno did hurt my sister, and she'll never be the same again!**_ **Oh gosh...** "

Yang stumbled back, holding her head in one hand and clutching the desk with the other. The heat radiating off her subsided as the color drained from her face.

"…no…no. Not my sister…" Yang mumbled, "Why her? Why couldn't it have been me?"

I could tell Blake didn't know how to react properly to this sudden turn of events. Neither did I, for that matter.

"Yang?" She asked tentatively, "Are you okay?"

Yang sat herself down between the desk and the bunk beds, still clutching her head. She must have become faint from either over-exertion or mental overload, or both.

"Just…" Yang motioned with her other arm at the door, "Get out."

"What?" Blake and I asked in unison, unsure of what she just said.

"I said get out, Tenno!" Yang yelled suddenly, "Just leave!"

 _Fair enough_.

I opened the door and left the room, content to be alone for the rest of the night.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Happy two year anniversary! Have a chapter!**

 **May be expanded later. Be on the look out for that!**

 **Also, if you want to know what I have been up to recently, simply take a look at my profile. I will occasionally update it with progress reports and the like, far more often than I upload chapters.**

 **If you want something more immediate, shoot me a message! I will happily reply and answer any question you have that do not spoil the story.**

 **EDITS HAVE BEEN MADE TO MAKE IT NOT SO NEEDLESSLY ANGSTY!**


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